


Another Chance

by CharlotteAshmore



Series: Another Chance at Love [1]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV), Stargate Universe
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, Claustrophobia, F/M, Grief/Mourning, Post-Loss, Slow Build, Slow Romance, Snark
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-06
Updated: 2016-01-31
Packaged: 2018-02-28 08:41:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 308,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2725937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CharlotteAshmore/pseuds/CharlotteAshmore
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Belle’s not the shy, timid little lab assistant Dr. Rush always believed her to be.  Would he have brought her aboard Destiny if he’d had a choice in the matter? A reboot of the series basically, but with my own twists and Belle thrown into the mix.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Air Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate: Universe nor Once Upon A Time. This is not written to infringe on any copyrights but strictly because I’m terribly bored and am happiest when I’m writing.
> 
> A/N: Two ladies very near and dear to me, AquaJasmine23 and Emilie Brown begged me to write this. I hope you all enjoy as well. I used a bit of canon dialogue from the series for technical purposes bc face it…I’m no scientist lol, and I really want this to make sense.

            _Belle slowly approached his desk at the front of the auditorium style classroom, nearly biting a hole in her lip to stop her anger from bubbling forth.  In the ten years since fleeing Storybrooke after the death of her true love, she_ _’_ _d learned better than most how to hide herself.  She_ _’_ _d dyed her hair the mousiest brown she could find in the Clairol section of the nearest Walmart, wearing it in a demure bun at the back of her head instead of hanging in loose curls over her shoulders. She hid her startling cerulean eyes behind a pair of ordinary metal framed glasses, making sure to keep her eyes lowered, giving the illusion of shyness. And she dressed more conservatively than she ever had since gaining her release from Regina_ _’_ _s underground prison, her style more suited to her former friend, Mary Margaret, than her own.  If it was one thing Belle French was adept at, it was hiding, refusing to let her guard down for a moment.  Her life in Storybrooke ended the moment Gold had sacrificed himself and she was left sobbing_ _…_ _alone in the street.  She_ _’_ _d never looked back, but on the off chance that someone from Storybrooke ever came searching for her, they_ _’_ _d never find her._

 _Now, she was six months away from earning her doctorate in Astrophysics and she wouldn_ _’_ _t let one paper derail her dream.  She_ _’_ _d worked too long and hard to see it all become a pile of ash.  It didn_ _’_ _t matter that she was exceedingly attracted to her professor_ _…_ _and not for the cosmic coincidence that he favored Gold far too much.  She admired him for his quick wit and utter brilliance in his field.  The physical attributes were just an added bonus.  He knew for a fact how many hours she logged every week working as his teacher_ _’_ _s assistant in addition to her studies and he was just being unfair.  Besides, the last thing she needed was the complications of a romantic relationship even if she thought he was capable of such.  He was far too devoted to his work.  Yet, it didn_ _’_ _t stop her from admiring the view. The best she could admit to was a grudging friendship.  Her determination to succeed demanded she get through this on her own merit and she would never use that friendship to her own advantage, but his comments cut her to the quick._

 _Dr. Rush lifted his head from the papers he was grading and sat back in his chair, removing his glasses and pinching the bridge of his nose before arching a brow at her.  His gaze raked her from head to toe as she edged closer to his desk._ _“_ _Ah, Miss French,_ _”_ _he said in greeting, his voice a soft caress, his brogue not as pronounced as it had been when she_ _’_ _d first met him.  Years of teaching in the states had mellowed his accent just as it had her own._ _“_ _What can I do for you?_ _”_

_“_ _Dr. Rush,_ _”_ _she began, striving for an even tone to hide the anger burning in her chest._ _“_ _I have questions about my paper._ _”_ _She flipped open the cover on her portfolio and withdrew the offending essay from within. She held it out before her as if it were dripping with refuse, a large red C- marked at the top and more than one or two notes written in the margins._

 _He glanced between her and the paper she held, making no move to take it from her._ _“_ _And what might those questions be, Miss French?  I thought I made it quite clear what you_ _’_ _d done wrong.”  His tongue rolled over her name as if it were precious to him._

 _Belle set the paper and the portfolio down on the desk and perched her hip against the edge, crossing her arms over her chest.  She regarded him from beneath her lashes so he wouldn_ _’_ _t see the flashing ire hidden within the depths of her cerulean orbs._ _“_ _I don_ _’_ _t agree with your assessment,_ _”_ _she said simply._

 _The corner of his thin lips quirked up into a sneering smirk._ _“_ _Miss French, in the four years you_ _’_ _ve taken my classes, and the two years you_ _’_ _ve been my teacher_ _’_ _s assistant, have you ever known me to alter a grade once I_ _’_ _ve marked it?_ _”_

_“_ _No._ _”_

_“_ _Then why would you think I would do it for you?_ _”_ _he asked, his dulcet tones dropping an octave into something that sent a pleasurable shiver skipping up her spine._ _“_ _Because you don_ _’_ _t agree with it? Or because you are my teacher_ _’_ _s assistant in my other classes and wish to take advantage of our_ _…_ _association?_ _”_

 _Belle gaped at him at the mere suggestion that she would use her position to coerce him into changing her grade._ _“_ _If you alter my grade, it will be because the work is deserving of the mark and nothing more,_ _”_ _she insisted._ _“_ _I just don_ _’_ _t think your assessment was fair.  I put in the work_ _…”_

_“_ _And it was more suited to a first year student than what I_ _’_ _ve come to expect from you._ _”_ _He rose from his desk and sighed, as if he were weary of their discussion.  “Your work was shoddy at best, your thought process was mediocre and it was_ _…_ _sloppy.”_

_Belle sucked in a sharp breath as he moved closer, that last word whispered just inches from her lips.  “But, Dr. Rush, if my GPA slips lower than a 3.8 I’ll be booted from the honors program and I won’t be able to graduate early.  I need this degree,” she murmured, her heart racing at his close proximity.  She clasped her hands behind her back to reign in her desire to reach for him, and pull him closer._

_“Tell me, Miss French…what would you be willing to do for a better grade?” he asked, slipping one lone finger beneath her chin to tilt her face up to meet his gaze._

_Her lips parted on a gasp as she lost herself in deep pools of warm chocolate so dark they were nearly black.  He reached for her, one hand gently removing the glasses perched on her nose, the other pulling the comb from her hair, her glorious curls cascading over her shoulders to the middle of her back.  He tossed her glasses onto the stack of papers next to his own and buried his hands in her unbound hair, his long fingers stroking gently over her nape as he pulled her closer, his lips brushing tenderly over hers.  “Beautiful.”_

_She moaned softly, her lips parting beneath his as his tongue slid sinuously along hers, probing farther to flick against the roof her mouth.  “Tell me what you want, Belle,” he whispered, sucking on her lower lip.  His large hands slipped over her arms and along her sides until they fitted themselves perfectly over her gently rounded hips, lifting her to sit on the edge of the desk as he stepped between her parted knees._

_His mouth trailed a scorching path of lips, teeth, and tongue to the shell of her ear as he molded his body flush with hers, bending her back over his arm, her hair sweeping across the wood surface of the desk.  She tilted her head to the side to give him better access.  “Nicholas…” she breathed, her nails digging into his shoulders through the white button up he wore._

_How long had it been since someone had touched her like this? And the fact that that someone was Dr. Nicholas Rush, whom she’d wanted since she’d met him, made her all the more sensitive to his touch as his hand glided along the inside of her thigh beneath her average length skirt.  She wouldn’t allow herself to dwell on all the reasons this was wrong…not when it felt so good, so right, so perfect.  She cried out, a long keening cry of need as his knuckles grazed against the lace covered juncture between her legs, the cloth damp with her arousal._

_“I want you so much, Belle.  I have for what seems like forever.  Will you have me, Belle?  Belle…”_

“Belle! Wake up!”

            Belle’s eyes flew open in alarm as she sat back hard in her chair, nearly toppling over.  She regained her balance and laid her palms flat on her desk, glancing up at Sergeant Riley as he peered down at her, a concerned frown knitting his brow.

            “Hey, you ok?” he asked, perching a hip on the corner of her desk in the limited space.  Belle was organized to an OCD level, but the amount of work she was required to do on a daily basis for Dr. Rush took up most of the surface.  “You were moaning in your sleep.”

            Crimson colored her cheeks as she covered them with her hands, pushing her glasses atop her head and rubbing the sleep from her eyes.  “Oh gods!” she groaned.

            “Must’ve been some dream, eh?”

            “You have no idea,” she deadpanned, grinning sheepishly up at him.  “How long was I out this time?”

            “’Bout an hour,” he said, glancing at the clock hanging on the wall.  “You were on the same shift I was yesterday, Corporal Andrews said you worked all last night and you were here when I came on this morning.  When are you planning to take a break?”

            “Have you forgotten who my boss is, by any chance?” she snorted.  “Just because he had to rush back to Earth to meet with the general, does not mean I can slack off while he’s gone.”

            Riley snatched a green jolly rancher out of the small decorative crock on her desk and peeled off the wrapper.  “You’re not going to be able to work if you collapse, Belle.  Try to get some rest, knock off at a decent hour,” he suggested.

            “I’ll try,” she promised, watching him walk back to his own terminal to monitor communications there at the base.  He was a nice guy, younger than she was, and not yet jaded to the horrors she’d experienced before she was twenty.  Being in the military, even such an enviable post as Icarus base, he wouldn’t remain innocent for long.

            She clicked the mouse and her computer screen flickered to life.  She did the same to the laptop sitting next to it and checked to see if the figures in the program matched.  She removed the flash drive from the laptop and reinserted it into the tower of the desktop before once again entering the calculations she and Rush had been working on before he’d been called away.  It was a dream come true for him to have the chance to work in this program, his life’s work finally realized.  She’d jumped at the chance to come with him.  She didn’t want to admit that she couldn’t imagine remaining to finish her degree if he wasn’t there.  His friendship and mentorship had breathed new life into her stagnant existence and now she felt her life had purpose again.  She was doing a job she loved…the lack of sleep being the only drawback sometimes…and she was off on the greatest adventure she could have imagined.

            Belle grinned at the memory of her first ride in a space ship…the same one that had brought them to Icarus base six months ago.  Twenty one light years from Earth and anyone who might still be looking for her.  When Rush had been offered to head the science team on this project, he’d had one request; that she would be allowed to accompany him as his assistant if she agreed.  She would have been utterly stupid to refuse.  So she’d packed her overlarge rucksack…the same one she carried with her everywhere so she would be ready to run if the situation required it…and set off to follow him.

            The work was demanding, but highly rewarding, their singular mission to unlock the mathematical proof that would allow them to dial the ninth chevron address on the stargate.  Since it had been found in the Ancients database on Atlantis, it had been a mystery, and not even she and Rush had been able to solve it.  He’d even gone so far as to embed the mathematical problem into an online video game in hopes that someone might solve it.  So far they’d come up empty handed, but she had hope.  She had no regrets.  The path she was on was surely destined.  And when Rush flew off into one of his rages, she was there to soothe him through it…much to the relief of anyone within a ten foot radius.  Normally he was soft spoken and studious, but woe to those foolish enough to underestimate his temper.

            Her cheeks flamed once more as her mind drifted back to the dream she’d had.  It seemed the more she denied her mounting feelings for Rush, the more he plagued her dreams.  Her very vivid naughty dreams, she thought, groaning inwardly.  Perhaps she just needed to get laid, her own hand no longer enough to satisfy her urges.  The base was full of eligible young men who would suit her purposes, several of whom had already propositioned her, but she dismissed the thought as if it had never crossed her mind.  She didn’t want a casual relationship with just anyone.  She wasn’t built that way.  She needed someone who could arouse her mind as well as her body and as sweet as some of her new friends were, they weren’t what she wanted.  If she were honest with herself, she would admit that only one man would do for her and in her mind, he was strictly off limits.

X*X*X*X*X

            Belle had finally reached a stopping point in her work where she felt it wouldn’t be amiss to take a short break to return to her room to shower and change.  She opted for a more casual look on Icarus than she had while living on earth, preferring jeans, boots and a long sleeved blue tunic style shirt that afternoon.  Quickly running a brush through her still damp hair, she coiled and pinned it at the back of her head, leaving a few stray tendrils to frame her face in her haste.  She slipped her needless glasses onto her nose and locked the door of her small room behind her as she set off back to the gate room.

            Tamara Johansen, better known as TJ to her friends, called out to her as she started off down the corridor.  “Belle!”

            Belle stopped, allowing the other woman to catch up with her, the black uniform she wore proclaiming her status as military.  “Hey, TJ, you on duty?  You only have two weeks left right?”

            “Yeah, my scholarship came through so I’ll be leaving at the end of next week.”

            Belle noticed the medical bag she carried.  “Someone hurt?”

            TJ shot her a surprised look.  “You haven’t heard?”  Belle shook her head, a puzzled frown pulling at her lips.  “Well, you didn’t hear this from me, but Greer is in detention for attacking a senior officer.  I’m on my way to the holding area to assess his wounds.”

            Belle winced, hating that the young master sergeant had finally let his temper get the better of him.  He was a good friend, having taken an instant liking to her when she’d arrived at the base, but his temper was just short of volatile.  “You can’t mean to tell me he attacked Young.  He practically worships the man.”

            “Telford,” TJ whispered in an aside.

            “Do you know why?”

            TJ snorted.  “This is Colonel Telford we’re talking about.  Who on this base can claim they haven’t wanted to do the same?”

            Belle chuckled in spite of herself.  “You mind if I tag along?  I have a few minutes to—“ The radio clipped to her belt crackled to life, cutting her off.

            “Miss French!”

            TJ cringed, her pert nose crinkling at the sound of Dr. Rush’s clipped tone.  Belle held the radio closer to her mouth.  “Yes, Dr. Rush?” she asked, hoping the medic didn’t notice how her cheeks tinted pink at the sound of his voice.

            “Gate room… _now_.  Rush out.”

            “Crap,” she groaned, clipping the radio back to her belt.  “Well, back to work.  TJ, tell Ron I’ll try to come see him later, ok?”

            She set off down the corridor leading to the gate room, her steps hurried now that her boss was back.  Of course he would have to show up when she was away from her terminal and would no doubt scold her for slacking while he was away.  She missed a step and nearly stumbled, catching herself at the last minute, as she took in the scene before her.  Telford and Young had their team assembled in two lines on either side of the gate platform and there were three civilians she didn’t know.  Thankfully, they commanded Rush’s attention and she was able to slip around them to her terminal unnoticed.

            Belle’s ears perked up with interest as he addressed a tall man in a suit, the senator of California if she had heard correctly.  “As you know, up until now, we have been unable to channel the precise amount of power necessary to unlock the stargate’s ninth and final chevron.  However, thanks to some ingenuity from young Mr. Wallace here,” Rush said, gesturing to the young man at his side, “that problem has finally been solved.”

            _Wait, what?_ She thought, arching a brow as she took in the man standing beside Rush.  He was tall, though maybe not six feet, with dark hair and eyes.  His clothes were wrinkled and disheveled, as if they’d pulled the poor soul right out of bed.  This was their genius?

            Colonel Young turned to smirk at Rush.  “We’ve heard that before.”

            “This time we’re sure,” Rush assured him.  Only Belle knew him well enough to notice the slight tensing of his shoulders as he answered the other man.

            Eli shot a dubious look between the colonel and Rush.  “That’s what I figured out?”

            “I embedded the mathematical problem we had to solve into the game.  I then engineered your solution into a practical workable application.”

            Belle edged her way to Riley’s side at his terminal as Young gave the order to begin the sequence, watching with avid interest as the first chevron locked in place, the gate whirring to life.

            Eli gaped incredulously at Rush then turned his startled gaze on the slowly spinning gate.  “We’re dialing now?

            Rush nodded.  “A test—to see if we can make a connection.”

            “If we do, we will send an automated reconnaissance drone through. We’ll see what’s on the other side,” Young said, rocking back on his heels.

            Chloe, Senator Armstrong’s model thin daughter, could barely contain her excitement.  “And then we’ll go?”

            “No, first we close down again, assess the data we receive, and then perhaps send the away team,” Rush said, his brows drawing together as the symbol for the ninth chevron was engaged…and refused to lock on.  The gate sparked, the lights in the room flickering at the increased power.

            Eli leaned close to the first lieutenant who had been assigned to him, as tour guide or just someone to keep the him out of trouble, he wasn’t certain.  “What’s going on?”

            Matthew Scott shook his head.  “I dunno.  We never got this far before.”

            Belle groaned inwardly as she watched Rush’s face fall.  He’d been working so hard to achieve this goal and now it seemed they would be faced with another failure.

            Rush moved to stand behind Riley, checking over the man’s shoulder to make sure everything had been entered into the program properly.  “We matched the power requirements down to the EMU.  It must work.”

            Young ordered Riley to shut it down and the gate went dark and slowly came to a stop.  Rush wanted to protest, but decided not to bother, knowing his protests would fall on deaf ears, mumbling about running through the equations again.  Belle sighed and settled at her terminal, opening the camera on her iPhone and setting it aside, ready for when she needed it, ignoring Young and his entourage as they left the gate room.

X*X*X*X*X

            “What is your status, Miss French?” Rush asked, tossing a bag of Jolly Rancher hard candies on her desk and swiping up a dry erase marker.  His eye never ventured from the whiteboard as he shucked his jacket.  “Those are a gift from Dr. Jackson, by the way,” he added as an afterthought.  “He said he misses your emails.”

            Belle grinned at the scowl twisting his mouth and shoved the bag of candies in the open rucksack beneath her desk.  “Yeah.  It’s absolutely dreadful not being able to email him from another planet,” she remarked saucily.  “I’m sure you sent him my regards?” she asked, knowing Daniel had gotten a scowl at best and Rush’s best death glare at worst.  She’d gotten to know the doctor well when she and Rush had been forced under his tutelage and they’d become fast friends.  He was the leading authority on Ancient and she and Rush could speak it fluently after their six week course with Jackson.  Now the man indulged her obsession with fruity hard candies at every opportunity.  She was sad she couldn’t email him to thank him properly.

            Rush turned back to the board, chewing thoughtfully on the top of the marker and steadfastly ignoring her question.  “Status,” he reminded her.

            “I’m quite well, Dr. Rush.  How are you?” she asked playfully, a teasing grin stretching her lips.  “And might I say it was so very thoughtful of you to bring me someone new to play with,” she snarked, glancing at Eli with a wink.  The boy blushed and shoved his hands in his pockets.

            “You are determined to distract me,” he snarled.

            Belle shrugged, enjoying their exchange.  “Of course.”

            Rush tossed the marker onto her desk and raked a frustrated hand through his hair.  “Fine.  It’s lovely to see you, Miss French.  I missed your witty repartee while I was away and just couldn’t _wait_ to get back.  Dr. Jackson drilled me for information on how you are doing and I told him you were busy.  Which is clearly a falsehood because I haven’t seen you lift a finger since my return.  This is Eli,” he hissed, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he gestured to the young man hovering beside her desk.  “He is the genius to crack our little proof and will be working with us to figure out why it didn’t work.  Now have I sufficiently answered all of your questions?”

            “Yes.  Thank you,” she said, smiling brightly.

            Rush shook his head, picked up the marker and gave them his back, studying the board once more.  Belle waved a hand to the chair and offered Eli a seat. 

            “Sooo, how long have you two been married?” the boy asked Belle in a conspiratorial whisper.

            Belle flushed, her brows disappearing somewhere into her hairline.  “What?   Oh, no…no, no, no, Eli…do you mind if I call you Eli?” she asked, not waiting for him to answer as she peeled the wrapper from a grape Jolly Rancher and popped it into her mouth.  “Rush and I aren’t married.  We’re just colleagues.  I’m Belle, by the way.  Don’t even think about calling me Miss French.  Rush is the only one who persists in doing that because he knows I hate it.”  She shifted things around on her desk and came up with a stack of printouts which she handed to Rush.  “I’ve entered the new data into the program with our new calculations, updated the database and downloaded the information onto your flash.”

            He grunted in response as his eyes scanned the pages in his hand.

            Belle rolled her eyes and sat back in her chair with a yawn.  Eli focused his attention on the math prominently displayed on the whiteboard.  “Seriously, who uses a whiteboard anymore?  You have computers, like, everywhere around here.”

            Rush tuned him out.  “The power flow was in the target range.  Why wouldn’t the address connect?”

            “Wrong address?” Eli said, taking a guess.

            Rush scoffed.  “There is only one found in the Ancient database in Atlantis.”

            “With no further instructions?” the boy asked, grinning at Belle as she tapped commands out on the keyboard.

            Rush turned to scowl at him.  “No, but that’s not the issue.  It has to be your proof.”

            Eli pushed himself to his feet, his eyes widening.  “My proof works.  You know how I know that it does?  Because you said so.”

            “You’ll be sorry,” Belle sing songed under her breath.  When Eli raised a questioning brow, she elaborated.  “You can’t argue with him when he gets like this.”

            “Thank you, Miss French, but could you save the derogatory remarks for when we’re done?” Rush snapped.

            Colonel Young came back into the gate room and crowded into their work space.  “Gentlemen…Belle.  How’s it coming?”

            Rush snorted and grabbed the eraser, wiping down the whiteboard.  Eli gaped incredulously, raising his hands to grab his hair.  “Whoa, whoa! What are you doing?”

            “Starting from the beginning.”

            Eli tried to grab the eraser.  “Wait.  Save! Save! Save!  I can’t…”

            Belle pulled the boy away from her boss.  “Eli, it’s ok.  I have a copy, look,” she said, showing him the picture saved on her phone of the board before it had been erased.  “I’ve already entered it into the database.”

            He breathed a sigh of relief and turned to listen to what the colonel was saying.  “We’d like for you to join us for dinner in the officer’s mess if Rush can spare you.”

            “Thank you, I’m starving,” Eli replied, taking a step towards Young.

            Rush turned to face the departing men, eraser still in hand.  “We’re quite close to a breakthrough, actually.  I’d like Eli to keep working.”

            “Well, we’ve been here for six months.  It can wait a few more hours,” Young stated, leading the way to the mess.

            Belle watched them go through narrowed eyes.  She’d tried to like the colonel or at least tolerate him considering he was the commanding officer on the project, but there was just something about him that rubbed her the wrong way.  She wasn’t likely to admit that it was the colonel’s disdainful attitude when it came to Dr. Rush.  She sat back in her chair and took in the tension in Rush’s lithe frame. 

            “When did you eat last?” she asked softly, intruding on his thoughts.

            He began writing on the board, his marker flying across the clean surface as he wrote out the proof.  “Not now, Miss French.  The answer is here, I know it.”

            She rose from her seat and stepped behind him, resting her hand over the nape of his neck.  He shivered violently, closing his eyes and letting his head fall back onto the back of her hand as she rubbed at the knot of tension.  “You’re overthinking it, Rush.  Why don’t you take a walk to clear your head?” she asked softly, refusing to acknowledge how much pleasure she took in easing away his pain.

            “I can’t.  I have too much work to do.”

            “Work that isn’t going to get done unless you clear your head.  Fifteen minutes, go,” she ordered, turning him away from the board and giving him a gentle nudge in the direction of the exit.  “I’ll fetch our dinner while you’re gone so you can eat when you get back.”

            “Miss—“

            “GO!”

X*X*X*X*X

            Belle had just re-entered the gate room, a brown paper bag containing sandwiches and a few bottles of fruit juice clutched in her hand when the first blast rocked the base, the overhead fluorescents swinging violently.  She raced up the stairs and set the bag down on her desk.  “What was that?  Is it the core, do you think?”

            Riley shook his head.  “No, we’re under attack.”

            The colonel’s voice came over the PA system confirming what Riley had just said and asking everyone to please proceed to their designated areas.  This was no drill.  She sat down at her desk and pulled the rucksack from beneath, shoving her laptop, as well as Rush’s into it along with anything important cluttering her desk.  Matt came in with Eli and left the younger man there with Rush before scurrying away to his assigned position.

            “Dr. Rush?” Riley called.  “I’m reading a dangerous energy spike in the core.”

            “Damnit,” Rush cursed, stumbling into Belle’s desk as more enemy fire pelted the base.  “Are you ok?” he asked, taking in her wide eyes and trembling hands.

            “I’m ok,” she assured him, struggling with the zipper on the overfilled bag.

            “Eli!  Eli!  I need your help,” he yelled over the din of panicked voices from the base of the platform as he studied the screen over Riley’s shoulder.

            “With what?” Eli cried, his voice a high pitched squeal as he felt fear clench his gut.

            “The ninth chevron.”

            “What?” the boy asked incredulously.  “We need to get the hell out of here!”

            “Look, it took us two years to find this site.  The properties are unique.  This may be our last chance,” Rush implored, his gaze pleading with Eli to at least try.  He ducked as another explosion rocked the base and mortar and bits of brick rained down on them.  “If this bombardment continues, the radioactive core is going to go critical.”

            “You mean the planet…it’s going to explode!?”

            “YES!!!” both Belle and Rush intoned simultaneously.

            Eli paced away several steps, pulling at his hair again as he wracked his brain for an answer.  “Ok, ok, ok, ok, ok.  If my math works…”

            “We can’t assume that…” Rush protested.

            Eli interrupted frantically, “I said _if!!!_   Then if it works, then it’s not a power supply issue, it’s the gate address.”

            Belle bit down on her lip as she concentrated.  “We’ve known the first eight symbols for years, the ninth has to be…”

            “…the point of origin,” Rush finished for her.

            “Ok, you guys, that is just creepy,” the boy said, his gaze swinging between the two scientists.  “Anyway, so, what if we’re not on the planet you’re supposed to be dialing from?”

            “But this is where we are,” Rush insisted emphatically.

            Eli refused to give up on his theory.  “Ok, what if we are not supposed to be _here_?”

            Riley’s radio crackled, Young ordering him to dial the gate to evacuate their people to Earth.

            Rush was still doubtful, but Eli pressed.  “Ok, follow me…the symbols on the stargate are constellations as seen from Earth.  That’s what you said…”

            “Yes, yes,” Rush agreed, a note of impatience in his tone.

            “Ok, so what if Earth is supposed to be the point of origin?”

            Belle frowned, her quick mind beginning to see where the boy genius was going with this.  But Rush beat her to their next point.  “The only viable power source was here, light years away.”

            “What if that doesn’t matter?” Eli asked.  “What if it’s the only combination that will work, like a code?”

            Belle’s eyes widened as the sheer brilliance of his idea smacked her in the face.  “A code.

            “A code?” Rush asked, glancing at the pair.

            “Yeah.”

            “Stop the dialing sequence,” Rush commanded.

            But Riley didn’t suspend his keystrokes on the keyboard.  “I have my orders.”

            “Get out of my way!” Rush growled, shoving Riley aside and sitting down at the terminal.  “We can’t risk dialing Earth,” he explained, punching in the new sequence with Eli’s code.

            Belle stood frozen, waiting with bated breath as the stargate whirled to life, locking in one chevron after another, sparking as it locked in on the eighth.  Rush rose and stood at her back, so distracted, he curled his hands over her shoulders and pulled her back against him.  If she hadn’t been so out of sorts with the events transpiring all around her, she might have been able to appreciate it more.  The ninth and final chevron locked and the event horizon exploded outward before settling into the puddle and all Belle could do was stare in disbelief.  They’d finally done it…and there was no time to see what was on the other side.

            Eli gaped at the shimmering puddle.  “Now that is impressive.”

            Riley slipped back into the seat at his terminal.  “Power’s fluctuating at critical levels.”

            Young barreled into the gate room, followed closely by Greer.  “What’s everybody doing?  I ordered an evacuation!” he bellowed, taking in the stunned faces at the base of the ramp.

            Eli rushed forward as Colonel Young climbed the steps to the platform where the command center was located.  “He, uh…He didn’t dial Earth.   It’s the ninth chevron address.”

            “What?!” Young hissed, turning on Rush.

            Rush pulled Belle behind him, protecting her from the colonel’s wrath.  This was in no way her fault and he didn’t want her to present a convenient target for the colonel’s displeasure.  “The attack started a chain reaction in the planet’s core.  There’s no way of stopping that and any blast could easily translate through an open wormhole.  It’s too dangerous to dial Earth,” he said defiantly.

            Young raked his hand down his face in vexation.  “You could have dialed somewhere else—anywhere else.”

            Rush shrugged.  “This could be our only chance.”

            Young pierced Riley with his gaze, commanding.  “Shut it down!”

            “You can’t, it’s too late,” Rush insisted, locking his heated gaze with the colonel’s.

            “Riley!” Young called over Rush’s shoulder.

            “System’s not responding, sir,” the young sergeant replied.

            “I need to get these people out of here.”

            Rush felt Belle slip her hand into his, emboldened by her support.  “We have a way out,” he said, gesturing to the open wormhole.

            “We don’t know what’s on the other side!  Damnit, Rush!” Young snarled.

            Another blast rocked the base and Eli stepped forward.  “Can’t be worse than here, can it?”

            Young’s steely gaze bored into the scientist for a moment longer before he turned on his heel and descended the stairs.  “Nobody move.  Await further instructions.”

            Rush turned to Belle, still gripping her small hand.  “It’s going to be ok, Belle, I promise,” he said earnestly, taking in her wide eyes, her lips pressed into a thin determined line.  “Go, grab your bag.  I promise I’ll never laugh at you again for always having it near to hand.”

            “I hope you know I’m going to hold you to that!” she snarked over the din of enemy fire and sparking lights overhead.

            Lieutenant Scott strode forward onto the platform and paused before the gate, a pack strapped to his back and his semi-automatic rifle clutched tightly in his hands.  “Once I’m through, follow one at a time on a three count,” he said, addressing the occupants of the gate room.

            Belle thrust her pack at Rush and ran towards the steps.  “Where the hell are you going?” he called after her.

            She grabbed a heavy pack and tossed it up onto the ramp.  “We need to take as many of the expedition supplies as possible.”  She tossed three more before Young grabbed her around the waist and shoved her towards the stairs.

            “Get out of here, Belle!  That’s an order,” he commanded.  Belle nodded and ran up the steps to where Rush was waiting for her, her rucksack over his shoulder and one of the packs clutched in his hand.  She grabbed a bag and slung the strap over her head, gripping another in her hand.

            Rush took her other hand and pulled her swiftly towards the gate, admiring her bravery…although if the base collapsed around them he was sure to change his mind and call her stupid.  Greer herded others behind them as they stepped through the puddle into the unknown.

X*X*X*X*X

            Rush shook his head to clear it, his senses dulled by the flight through the wormhole only to have it all come rushing back to full awareness.  He lifted his head from the soft surface he was lying on, his lips parting in surprise to find his little assistant sprawled beneath him.  He pushed one of the packs off of them and took in the chaos in the room, his head having cleared enough to know they couldn’t remain where they were with more and more people and boxes of supplies careening haphazardly through the open gate.

            “Miss French,” he said, his voice a ragged croak as he tapped his hand against her cheek.  “Miss French?”  She didn’t respond.  “Belle!  Shit!”  He moved off of her and grasped her under her arms, pulling her to the side of the room where Eli and Riley were sitting in dazed confusion.

            “Oh my god, did she hit her head?” Eli asked, taking a position on her other side and taking her hand in his.  She’d been so nice since he’d arrived at the base.  He didn’t take well to his new friend being injured.  More than a dozen others had also been injured coming through the gate aside from those who had been injured by various explosions at the base.  TJ had her hands full.

            “Belle, talk to me,” Rush commanded.  He couldn’t lose her now, not when their dreams were so close to becoming reality.  She’d worked so hard, standing by him when no one else would, putting in more than her fair share…no, he wouldn’t lose her.  Whether he wanted to admit it or not, she was the one person he felt he _needed_ in his life.  “Belle, please.”

            Belle groaned and then coughed, drawing much need oxygen into her lungs.  “Rush…”

            Rush breathed a sigh of relief and pulled her up into his arms, his fingers probing gently at the bruise forming near her temple.  “Are you alright?”

            A relieved smile crossed Eli’s face.  “Do you want me to get TJ to check you out?  I can go get her,” he offered.

            Belle shook her head and groaned, her head spinning.  “No, I think I’m okay.  One of the packs hit me as we came through, but I’ll be fine.  Rush, stop fussing,” she said, pushing his searching hands away.

            “You lost consciousness, Miss French, you could have a concussion.” he said sternly, making her hold still as he searched her eyes.

            “How do you even know what to check for, Rush? It’s not like that’s covered in basic first aid,” Eli snapped, still thinking TJ should check her out.

            “Eli—“

            “Enough, both of you.  I’m okay,” she assured them, pushing herself to her feet.  “Any idea where we are?”  She reached down and grabbed her rucksack, slinging it over her shoulder and leaving the rest of their bags with the soldiers dragging crates of supplies off to the side of the room.

            Rush glared at her in exasperation and shook his head, wondering why she always had to be so stubborn.  She’d changed when they’d begun working on the Icarus project, slowly gaining more confidence in her skills and asserting her opinion when she felt she was right.  She’d lost some of the shyness that he’d found so charming, and now didn’t hesitate to put him in his place.  The passion she displayed for the project awakened feelings in him he’d thought had died with his wife.  He’d thought when Gloria died that he’d never have anything more than his work, but Belle had changed all that.  When she’d first taken the position as his teacher’s assistant, he’d looked on her as just another perk, someone to make his life easier, but she’d wormed her way under his skin until she was a pleasant itch he didn’t want to live without.

            By the time he’d been offered the position on the Icarus project, he’d already been half in love with her and couldn’t see going without her.  He knew she’d never consider more than friendship with him, but having her with him, being close to her even just as colleagues was enough.  Now he couldn’t help but feel guilty for leading her blindly into danger.

            “Rush, are you alright?” she asked when he didn’t answer.

            Her soft voice, so filled with concern, pulled him from his reverie and he offered her a reassuring smile, no more than a twitch of his lips, but he knew she’d interpret it as such.  “Yes, Miss French, I’m fine.  Eli, why don’t you see if you can help TJ, hm?” he said, shooing the young man off to make himself useful.

            Belle arched a brow.  “That wasn’t very nice.”

            “So?  Who says I’m nice?”  Belle stuck her tongue out at him, to which he chuckled and said, “Come on, let’s see if we can’t figure out where we are.”  He took her hand, curling his fingers around hers and led her around the perimeter of the room, taking no chance that they’d be separated.

X*X*X*X*X

            Belle couldn’t help the bubble of excitement that hummed through her blood, despite how wretched she felt.  Her head ached like a thousand tiny hammers were trying to chip away pieces of her skull and she had to stop every now and then to let a wave of dizziness pass as they explored the corridors they found themselves in.  Rush still hadn’t released her hand, his fingers still entwined with hers as he led her forward, afraid if he let her go she might collapse.  They’d been walking for maybe five minutes when they came to a large central open area, a closed door before them and corridors branching off in two directions.

            She reached out, her fingers brushing against the symbols etched into the door.  “Rush, look…these markings are in Ancient.” 

            He pulled her back, his hand hovering over the panel he suspected would open the door.  He had to bite back a chuckle at the pleasure etched on her face.  Everyone else who’d come through the gate with them would have probably wanted to stay as far away from unknown doors as they possibly could.  Not his Belle.  She wanted to plunge blindly forward come what may.  He palmed the panel and the door whooshed open.

            Belle squealed in delight, rushing forward into the room and turning in a circle as she tried to survey her surroundings in their entirety.  It looked to be some sort of lounge area with tables and plush chairs scattered throughout the room, more of the soft lighting they’d encountered on their trek down the corridors offering a muted glow from several sconces on the walls.  He followed at a more leisurely pace, smirking slightly at her exuberance.  He moved to the far wall, inspecting the panel there.

            “Did you find something?” she asked, moving to his side.  Her eyes widened and she jumped back when the wall slid open.  She gasped, nearly collapsing against the iron railing before the window the wall had concealed.

            “They appear to be blast shields,” he said, never taking his eyes off the view before them.

            “We’re on a ship.  The ninth chevron address was a ship?  How is that even possible?” she murmured, her voice filled with wonder as the enormity of the ship stretched out before them, streaking through the vastness of space, the pinkish blue glow of the shields flickering brightly.  It reminded her of the few times she’s been fortunate enough to witness the aurora borealis while living in Maine.  Gold had told her it wasn’t often they experienced such a phenomenon that far from the top of the world and to appreciate the sight.  She caressed the teacup pendant she wore on a thin gold chain around her neck and smiled fondly at the memory, realizing the gaping hole in her chest that had been there since his loss wasn’t so ragged anymore.

            She shifted the weight of her rucksack on her shoulder and glanced over her shoulder as Eli and Lieutenant Scott charged into the room.  “Where have you two been?” Scott asked, only then noticing the view through the window.  “How the hell did we end up on a ship?”

            Eli stepped to Belle’s right, his eyes alight with wonder. 

            Rush seemed mesmerized by what he was seeing.  “The design is clearly ancient, in the truest sense of the word,” he said softly.  “Launched hundreds of thousands of years ago.”

            Scott moved closer, wondering if Rush had taken leave of his senses.  “Dr. Rush?’

            But the scientist continued, “Faster than light, yet not through hyperspace.”

            “Yeah…what are you doing?” Scott asked, his gaze flitting back and forth between Rush and Belle, her rapt attention focused on her mentor.

            “Who knows how far it’s traveled,” Rush said, taking his eyes from the view to look down at his assistant.

            Scott groaned, trying again.  “Dr. Rush, I’ve got a lot of wounded we need to get home.”

            Belle’s brow furrowed as a crunching noise reverberated through the room.  “What was that?” she asked worriedly, her eyes searching through the dim lighting, seeking the source.

            “It seems the life support system may be failing,” Rush said, grabbing her hand and pulling her along behind him.  “I suppose we should do something about that.”

            Scott answered TJ on his radio and headed back towards the gate room, but Eli fell into step behind Belle and Rush.  “Um…do you have any idea how to fix this problem or even _where_?” 

            “We should be able to find the bridge or at the very least a central control room that will give us a basic understanding of the systems on this ship,” Rush said absently, taking the left corridor that should lead them to the center of the ship…hopefully.

            “But this is an Ancient ship!” Eli said.  “How are we even supposed to know the life support system from…say the…um…navigation system.”

            Belle reached out and patted his shoulder.  “Eli, calm down, dear.  If this is indeed a ship built by the Ancients we should be able to figure out the basics.”

            He didn’t look so sure, but he held his tongue.  Rush led them into a darkened room, the lights coming on as they stepped over the threshold.  The room was circular, benches scattered about and three consoles spaced evenly at the center.  Belle approached one eagerly, intrigued when it sprang to life on its own, just as the lights had done before.  Page after page of readouts of the various systems scrolled across the screen, all of it in Ancient.

            “Well, at least we can read it,” she said, smirking with satisfaction. 

            Rush and Eli nudged her out of the way and bent over the console, trying to take in the vast amount of data on the screen.  “There.”

            “How do you know?” Eli asked, his voice holding an edge of uncertainty.  “You only think it’s the life support when it could be something else.”

            “I can read, Mr. Wallace,” Rush growled.

            Belle rolled her eyes as their argument continued.  She moved to another console and studied the same data, hesitant to touch the various buttons on the side of the display. 

            Scott came in, closely followed by Greer.  “What’s going on in here?”

            “The life support system is on, but for some reason, it’s not working properly.  I’m attempting to reset it,” Rush said, casting the lieutenant a brief glance.

            Eli faced Scott with a disgruntled expression. “He has no idea what he’s doing!”

            “I beg your pardon,” Belle hissed, moving between Eli and Rush. 

            “Not now, Miss French,” Rush groaned, switching to Ancient.

            Belle snorted.  “Who is he to say you don’t know what you’re doing?  We’ve been here for what…ten minutes?  I’d trust you before any of the others on board,” she answered, slipping into the coarse dialect.

            “English!” Scott yelled over their bickering.

            Greer lifted his rifle and pointed it at Rush, his voice deadly calm.  “Step away from that thing.”

            Eli’s excited chatter went on as if Rush couldn’t be shot at any moment.  “That screen says that what you’re doing is gonna overload it…”

            “Eli, please!”

            “Is that what it says or not?”

            “You only think you know what it says in this screen,” Rush said, his voice rising in irritation as he pointed to the console,  “because I embedded a rudimentary version of the Ancient language into the game.  _This_ is not a game!”

            Scott rubbed his hand wearily over his brow, not knowing what to do. “Don’t touch it, Rush.”

            Rush gnashed his teeth together, the force making the muscle tick dangerously in his jaw.  “When the oxygen aboard this ship falls below critical level, it will become increasingly difficult to concentrate.”

            “And what you’re doing could blow up the ship!” Eli yelled, panic edging into his tone.

            Scott moved closer to the console to peer at the screen, not understanding a thing he was looking at.  “Are you sure, Eli?”

            “Back off now or I will shoot!” Greer shouted, “He already screwed us once.  I’m not going to let him do it again!”

            “Oh for fuck’s sake!” Belle snarled, having finally lost her temper. She stepped around Rush and glared at all of them, ignoring their stunned looks of surprise at her crude language.  She’d heard worse on the base.  “You lot need to get it together!  Ronald, you are not shooting _anyone_ and the rest of you are going to get along or we’re all going to suffer for it,” she said, glaring at each of them in turn…just before she batted Rush’s hand away from the console and pushed the button.

            The life support system shuddered, went silent and then whirred back to life with a clanking sound, rumbling just as it had moments before.  Rush sighed.  “Well, I suppose that would have been too simple.”

            Greer lowered his weapon and cocked his head at Belle.  “Need to do something about that temper of yours, Miss Belle.”

            “Yeah, well, it’s been one of those days,” she snarked back before turning a pointed look on Eli.  “And as soon as we get settled, Eli, you’re going to have a crash course in Ancient.”

            Scott and Greer left the control interface room to check in with TJ and explain the situation to the evacuees from Icarus base as Eli and Rush leaned over the console again while Belle moved to sit on one of the benches, stowing her bag beneath and out of the way.  She rubbed her head, wincing as her fingertips skimmed over the knot on her temple.  She pulled her glasses off her nose, noticing for the first time the minute crack in the left lens near the bottom of the frame.  Well, it’s not like she needed them anymore, she thought wryly.  She stowed them away in her pocket, wondering why she was even attempting to remain hidden behind her disguise.  The Icarus project had brought her so far away from Earth, not even Emma Swan, with her ability to find someone, would ever be able to locate her.  She’d begun acting more like herself instead of the persona she’d adopted and now with the threat of death hanging over her head, she knew she couldn’t allow herself to hide any longer.  She just wondered how Rush would adapt to the new…old…her.

            Belle was pulled out of her thoughts by a digital display popping up in the center of the room and she pulled herself to her feet to get a closer look.  “Wow,” she breathed, studying the display.  “It’s a star map.  Look, that’s the Milky Way.”

            Rush leaned on the console, his chin propped on his hand as he looked at the screen.  “I believe it’s a visual log of the ship’s journey,” he murmured quietly.

            Eli moved to stand next to Belle and pointed to the screen.  “So, this is where we are now?”  
            Rush shook his head.  “No, that’s where the ship originally embarked from.”

            “Earth,” the boy mumbled.

            A line began bouncing from point to point on the map.  “It’s leaving the galaxy.”

            “It did, a long time ago,” Rush confirmed.

            A small smile of wonder lit Belle’s face as she tried to wrap her mind around it all.  “That was Pegasus.  Those points aren’t stars…”

            “No, they’re galaxies,” Eli finished for her, turning to look back at Rush.  “Rush, where the hell are we?”

            “Several billion light years from home.”

X*X*X*X*X

_Back on Earth…_

General O’Neil stood before the digital display in the center of headquarters and greeted Colonel Carter, the commander of the Hammond, relieved that her ship had evaded destruction at the hands of the Lucian Alliance when they’d mounted their attack on Icarus.

            “General,” she began, “we barely got away.  The planet was destroyed.  We managed to beam most of our people off the surface before jumping to hyperspace.  We also believe that the enemy forces were destroyed.  Any word on how they gained intel on our base?”

            O’Neil shook his head.  “No.  What about casualties?”

            Carter looked grim, a frown tugging at the woman’s lips.  “Twelve.  Eighty plus MIA.  The bunker shielding technology prevented us from beaming out anyone inside.  How many people made it through the gate to Earth?”

            “None.”

            Carter gaped in disbelief.  “None?  Our sensors indicated that the stargate was active for a full six minutes before the core went critical.”

            O’Neil sighed wearily, just as baffled as the commander of the Hammond.  “Well, they didn’t come through here.”

            “Then where’d they go?”

 


	2. Air Part 2

           

           Belle sank wearily to the padded bench in the compartment Rush had led her to and eyed the silver case he set beside her.  The pounding in her head was steadily growing worse and she couldn’t imagine why he’d dragged her from the control interface room to show her a…briefcase.  She reached up to push her glasses up on her nose, realizing too late that they were no longer there.  That was going to take some getting used to.  Just as he would, since he’d broken his in the rush through the gate as well.  _I could be doing something productive_ , she thought irritably.  She could be helping Eli go over the schematics of the ship or actually be searching the ship with one of the teams Lieutenant Scott had put together instead of some secret mission Rush had cooked up.  Young wasn’t going to be at all happy if…when…he woke up.  He’d been grievously injured when he’d come flying through the stargate…literally…suffering a head wound.  He was still unconscious.

            Finally, her curiosity got the better of her.  “So…what’s in the box?” she asked, one perfectly arched brow rising querulously.

            Rush knelt before the bench, his hands on the clasps, yet he hesitated, refusing to meet her gaze.  “Miss French, i…I want to apologize.”

            Her eyes crinkled at the corners as she regarded him silently.  It wasn’t like him to want to apologize for _anything_.  He wasn’t a man to make careless mistakes, he didn’t take risks and most of his decisions were well thought out to the very last detail.  He left no margin for error, so she was just a bit concerned that he felt the need to apologize…especially to her.  “Why?”

            “For getting you into this mess,” he said with a sigh of disgust.  “I never intended for us to end up in such dire straits.  Yes, I had wanted us to be able to join the away team when we successfully connected with the ninth chevron address, but under controlled circumstances.  I never meant to put you in danger.” 

            Belle laid her hand over his where it rested on the case, her thumb brushing gently over his knuckles.  He finally lifted his sable gaze to hers and she was taken aback by the genuine remorse in his eyes. “Rush, you have nothing to apologize for.  I choose my own fate; I always have.  I _chose_ to go with you to Icarus.  It’s not like you bound and gagged me and threw me into the back of a van and made me board that ship.  Although it did cross my mind that you might have if I’d refused,” she deadpanned, trying to lighten the mood with a bit of levity.

            “Miss—“

            She pressed a finger to his lips to shush him.  “Let me finish,” she said softly.  “I don’t have anything or anyone left on Earth, Rush.  All I have is my work and now I have the greatest adventure imaginable on the path before me…”

            “…if we don’t all die,” he mumbled under his breath.

            “I have every confidence that you will solve this problem.  You didn’t create the situation that brought us here, but I can’t say I’m sorry to be here.  It was a risk, and you took it.  We’ll get through this, so stop apologizing when there’s no need.”

            Rush sat back on his heels and stared at her in awe, a slight smile curving his lips.  She was the most remarkable woman he’d ever had the great fortune to meet.  No doubt, she’d follow him into the fires of hell if he asked it of her.  More than half of the evacuees from Icarus were a hare’s breath away from demanding his head and yet his assistant, his dearest friend, was ready to proceed with the mission as if it were another day at the office.

            He shook his head to clear it, jerking himself back to the present and the more pressing issues before him.  “I sincerely hope you don’t change your mind.”

            Belle waved a dismissive hand and tapped her short nails on the top of the box.  “So, are we going to sit here bonding over our precarious position or are you going to tell me what’s in the box?”

            Instead of answering, he unfastened the clasp and lifted the lid, revealing the contents.  Inside were four polished cobalt stones and a square device rimmed in silver with a switch on the side.  “These are Ancient communication stones.  They work over vast distances in real time.”

            She traced a fingertip over the device and the five circles engraved into the surface.  “We can talk to people on Earth?”

            “Yes.  You physically take control of an individual at the other end.  I brought these with us in the event we ended up somewhere out of range of normal communication,” he explained, removing the device from the metal case and setting it on the bench beside her.

            Her eyes widened and her nose crinkled as she winced.  “You’re going to use them aren’t you?” she asked, not sure if she was convinced this was a good idea. 

            “Someone has to inform General O’Neil of our situation.  He is no doubt wondering what has become of us.”

            She grabbed his wrist as he lifted a stone from the case.  “Rush, what if you get stuck in whoever’s body it is you just happen to pop into?  Have you ever tried this before?”

            Rush couldn’t help but find himself pleased at her concern.  “Well, no, not exactly, but the premise is simple.  The device can be disconnected at either end and I’ll return here to my own body.  Not to worry, Miss French.”

            Belle made a little noise of displeasure, but she released his hand and watched avidly as he turned the device on and settled on the bench with it between them.  “Rush—“

            He held a finger to his lips to silence her and placed the stone on the lighted surface, his eyes closing and his face slipping into a blank mask.  Belle rose to her feet, pulling a Jolly Rancher from her pocket and peeling off the wrapper as she began to pace, her eyes never leaving his face.  She jumped when his eyes opened and he frowned at her.

            “Miss French?” he asked. 

            Belle’s eyes narrowed suspiciously.  He sounded like Rush, but his voice was off, his brogue seemingly gone and with a nasal inflection she wasn’t certain she liked at all.  There was also an open quality to the softening of his features, Rush’s usually guarded expression falling away.  “Who are you?”

            “Dr. Pierce,” he said, his eyes taking in the small room with the two padded benches and a small table and chairs.

            “Christopher?” she asked, groaning when he nodded.  Christopher Pierce was a middle-aged astrophysicist under O’Neil’s command that should have been fired long ago for sexual harassment, having made more than one pass at Belle the few times she had accompanied Rush to the Pentagon to meet with the general.  He wasn’t well liked by the female personnel of the SGC but the man was brilliant in his field.  And she wasn’t comfortable being stuck in a room with him, despite the fact that he was occupying Rush’s body.

            “I’m relieved to see you didn’t perish in the explosion,” he said, his face twisting into a leer…an expression she’d wager her entire bag of Jolly Ranchers on that she’d never see on Rush’s face were he in his own body.  A wolfish smile burgeoned on his face as he noted that they were alone in the room.  “Be a waste of prime—“

            “I’d stop right there if I were you,” she warned, her hands balling into fists at her sides as she glared at him.

            He backed off, holding his hands out before him as he rose to his feet and stretched.  “So what happened to you?  Are there any more survivors?”

            Belle inched her way around him, putting her back to the door and praying Rush would hurry back.  “Young, though he’s injured, most of his team, and a good number of the scientists and engineers, but I don’t know if Lieutenant Scott has an actual head count at present.”

            “So where are we?” he asked, advancing on her slowly.

            She pressed her back into the door, keeping her eyes trained on him as she explained what had happened on Icarus, their flight through the gate and the problem they were having with the life support system.  She was filling him in on Colonel Young’s injuries when he lunged, his hands snaking around her waist and pressing her farther into the door, diving in to claim her lips.  Her mouth opened in horror, prepared to scream, her hand fumbling along the wall in desperation to find the door lock.  It was like one of her naughty dreams gone bad.  For all intents and purposes, this _was_ Rush…physically, yet it wasn’t.  It was his hands groping her, his lips pressed to hers, his tongue invading her mouth, yet it wasn’t and it was all wrong.  It reminded her of that movie she’d watched with Emma and Red about the pod people and she couldn’t help the violent shudder of revulsion that rippled through her.

            Belle pushed against his chest, but his arms were like steel bands, trapping her in his unwanted embrace.  His legs trapped hers in a way where she couldn’t bring her knee up, though she really didn’t want to hurt Rush, but she would have if she could have managed the maneuver.  She turned her head to the side, yet he wasn’t deterred, his lips trailing along her jaw to nip and suckle at the flesh beneath her ear.  She fisted her hands in his hair, pulling with her meager strength in hopes the pain would force him to release her.

            “Come on, Belle, I know you’ve always wanted me,” came the nasal reply in Rush’s voice.  She felt sick.  “Just one kiss,” he said, sliding his hands under her shirt to cup her lace-covered breast.

            “You bloody pervert!” she shrieked as his mouth came down on hers again as she squirmed to get loose.

            He stiffened against her, his head jerking back and his eyes flaring wide in stunned disbelief.  “Miss French!” he gasped, removing the hand from her breast as if he’d been burned.

            Belle’s eyes narrowed, searching his eyes.  “Rush?”

            “So help me, I’ll kill the bastard,” he roared as her hands released the painful grip on his hair, allowing him to step back.  “Of all the personnel available to monitor the stones, it had to be Pierce!”

            She sagged back against the door in relief, straightening her clothes as she tried to pull in huge lungfuls of air to calm herself.  “H-How’d it g-go?” she asked, her voice shaky from the ordeal.

            Rush lifted a hand to her, drawing it back before he could touch her. He doubted she’d appreciate his touch after what she’d had to endure, no matter how badly he wanted to comfort her.  He’d hurried with his debriefing in order to return to her as quickly as possible when he’d realized who was occupying his body, the man’s reputation as a lech was well-known.  Returning to find his body pressed to Belle’s, his hands and lips on her pale flesh…every one of his fantasies come to life.  He couldn’t suppress the shiver that slid up his spine.  It was quickly replaced by rage.

            “How can you ask, when I come back to find…” He ran a hand roughly through his hair, tugging a few strands out.  “I’m so sorry, Miss French.”

            Belle sat down on the bench and leaned her head back against the bulkhead.  “You think you’re the first man I’ve had to fend off,” she asked, emitting a sharp mirthless laugh, thinking about the man her father had betrothed her to what seemed like eons ago.  “You’re not.”

            “I’ll deal with Pierce personally, I assure you,” he mumbled, pacing back to the stones and closing the device away in its case.  He turned back to her, relieved that she looked calmer.  “Are you alright?”

            “Yes, Rush, I’m fine,” she replied, offering him a weak smile.  It could have been so much worse, and she was thankful Rush wasn’t a large man, not much taller than herself and almost equally matched in strength.  If Pierce had been occupying any other body than that of the one man she craved, she would have done some serious damage.  It was her reluctance to harm Rush that had stayed her hand.  “You know Pierce.  Thinks he’s Casanova and every woman should thank their lucky stars because of his interest in them.  Although it would be well advised to speak to O’Neil about this.”

            Rush gaped at her.  “How can you be so calm about this?  He attacked you…in _my_ body no less!” he hissed furiously.

            Belle leveled him with her direct stare, closing off and changing the subject.  “Did you see O’Neil?”

            He sighed heavily and grasped the case in his hand, palming the door lock as she fell into step with him.  He knew she wouldn’t talk about the incident any further now that she had that defiant look she wore so well.  “I debriefed him on what happened, reported the extent of the Colonel’s injuries and assured him that we had everything under control.”

            “So you lied,” she retorted dryly as she walked beside him back towards the control interface room.

            “I beg your pardon?  I did _not_ lie.”

            “Seriously, Rush?  This situation is so far out of our control it’s staggering.  You lied.  Now what are we to do about it?”

X*X*X*X*X

            Belle leaned her forearms on the railing where she stood on the walkway overlooking the gate room as Rush addressed the various military, scientists and civilians gathered there to hear what he had to say.  Frankly, things did not look good at the moment.  With Colonel Young incapacitated due to his injuries, General O’Neil had placed Rush in charge, though that announcement had been met with nothing less than moderate hostility.  Many doubted his claim, but Belle hadn’t felt as if he were lying when he’d given her the news moments before addressing the assemblage.  Rush was the senior scientist on board and in light of his knowledge and experience she didn’t find it that hard to believe that the general would put him in a position of authority.

            Senator Armstrong was the first to contest him, but the poor man looked as if he were about to collapse.  Before she could complete the thought, he did indeed collapse and TJ had to rush to his side to tend him while Chloe hovered over him worriedly.  As much as she disliked the Colonel, she secretly hoped he would regain his strength soon.  She couldn’t see this position as healthy for Rush, not when there were so many opposed to his leadership.  Camille Wray, the human resources administrator…why was she even here, Belle groaned…looked to be the biggest source of contention.  She didn’t know the woman well, but she wasn’t impressed, finding her to be a busy body that tended to stick her nose where it was neither wanted nor needed.

            It was escalating into something rather ugly when Lieutenant Scott finally stepped forward, calling for order.  “Everyone, calm down!  Now, the fact is Colonel Young put me in charge, and I expect all SG personnel to follow my orders.  As for the rest of you,” he said, pausing for effect.  “You get out of line, we _will_ lock you down.  Now, Dr. Rush is right about a couple things.  First off, we all have to work together, and second of all, we don’t all have to stay here.  So, let’s move out.”  He leveled them all with a serious look when they remained rooted to the spot.  “Go on, move.  It’s okay.”

            Belle felt some of the tension ease from her shoulders as the crowd began to slowly make their way from the gate room to seek out living quarters Eli had located in the ship’s schematics earlier.  She moved down the stairs to stand behind Rush as Scott spoke quietly to several of his soldiers across the room.

            “Well, that could have gone better,” she said wryly as she regarded him.  He was tense, sullen and moreover…disappointed.  “You certainly didn’t win over any new friends.”

            Rush fought off a shiver as her hand slipped under his hair to rub gently at his nape.  “No, I suppose not, Miss French,” he replied.  “But this isn’t a popularity contest.  I’m not interested in being liked so long as they work with us.”

            Belle felt a smile tug at her lips that he’d said _us_ and not _I._   She knew what it must have cost him to do that, yet lately she’d found him including her more and more.  “Then _we_ shall deal with it.”

            Scott stopped him as they turned to head back to the control interface room.  “Dr. Rush, I think we need you, so I’ve got your back for now.  But if I were you, I would find some way to dial that gate back to Earth.”

            Belle tugged on his sleeve, urging him to follow and grinned.  “See, winning friends isn’t that hard.”

            Rush snorted and followed where she led.

X*X*X*X*X

            Rush set his radio down on the console and rubbed absently at his temples, his head pounding.  At least he could have a few moments of silence in the deserted control room, everyone having some task they’d been assigned.  He closed his tired eyes only to yank them open immediately, unable to get the sight of Belle flushed and panting in his arms, out of his head.  He let his head drop against the console and groaned, the sound loud in the silent room.  If only she’d want him that way, he thought miserably.  Her skin had felt like the finest silk beneath his hands, even if it had only been for a brief moment.  She’d been stiff and struggling and he couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to have her soft and pliant and begging for his touch.

            His hands dropped to his lap, adjusting the seam of his jeans to relieve the pressure in his building erection.  He had to stop thinking about his little assistant that way.  It didn’t matter how much he wanted…loved…her.  She was his assistant, his employee, and yes, he admitted, his friend.  She was off limits.  He had work to do and didn’t have time to indulge in daydreams of what would never be.

            As if his wayward thoughts had conjured her, she came breezing into the room, two tin mugs clasped tightly in her hands.  He tried to focus on the screen on the console, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself from watching her from the corner of his eye.  She sat down on the bench behind him, depriving him of the view.  He could only hear her rummaging around in that ever present rucksack she insisted on carting around with her.  He swung around to watch her, brows raised.

            “You have a bottle of Advil in there?” he asked, surprised.  Well, why not? She had every other bloody thing imaginable in that bag.

            “Of course.  Who packs without including a bottle of pain relievers?” she said, shaking two out of the bottle and dropping them into his outstretched hand before handing him the steaming cup.  It was then that the heady aroma of one hundred percent Columbian loveliness assailed his nose and he couldn’t bite back the moan of pleasure that bubbled from his lips.

            “Ohhhh, Miss French, is that what I think it is?” he asked, praying that he was correct in his assumption.

            Belle captured her lower lip between her teeth, smiling shyly up at him as she handed him the cup.  “I thought it might help.”

            He sipped at the strong black coffee and swallowed the Advil, once again thanking whatever deity had led his precious little assistant to him so many years ago.  “Wherever did you get coffee?  Was it packed away in the supplies?”

            She shook her head, shifting her gaze to the console.  “No, unfortunately.  Most of the foodstuffs didn’t make it on board.  We were left with the powdered gruel stuff and some protein bars.  And that’s not going to last us long.  This was one of the little packets of instant I keep in my bag for emergencies.  I maybe have four left,” she said, scrunching her face up apologetically.  “So I used some of my water rations to mix it and borrowed a little torch from Brody to heat it.”

            “Thank you,” he said, offering her his heartfelt thanks.

            Belle grinned cheekily over her shoulder and sipped at the water in her own cup, swallowing down two of the Advil and wishing the water were a cup of Earl Grey.  “What would you do without me?”

            “You wouldn’t happen to have a pack of cigarettes in that magic bag of yours, would you?” he teased, though right now he’d like nothing more than a cigarette to savor with his coffee.

            She snorted.  “And what would you do if I did?  Step outside to have a smoke?  Good luck with that one.”  Her smile faltered just a bit at the open tenderness of his gaze and she forced her eyes to focus on the screen.  She wouldn’t allow herself to see something that wasn’t there.  She was his friend.  There was nothing more to be read into that look, she told herself.  “So, um…what new discoveries have you come across in my absence, hm?”

            He leaned forward on his stool, his shoulder brushing hers as he pointed to the screen, but before he could answer, Eli and Scott strolled into the control room.  Rush rose and stepped around Belle, putting himself between Belle and the men.  “What’s that?” he asked, his eyes trained on the metal sphere hovering in the air at eye level.

            Eli fiddled with the remote in his hands and the sphere circled around Rush to hover in front of Belle.  “Flying camera ball.  I’m calling it a Kino…y’know after the Russian—“

            Scott groaned, already having heard his excited speech once before.  “Don’t ask.”

            Rush stared at the Kino, inspecting it.  “That’s marvelous.”

            Eli pushed another button and grinned at Belle.  “It comes with a remote,” he said, showing her the small screen on the handheld device.  “I thought we could use it to look around.”

            Scott stepped behind Belle to peer at the console.  “What do you have?”

            Rush squeezed between them, the lieutenant standing just a bit too close to Belle.  “Well, it’s not so good, really.  The processing nodes are scrubbers, responsible for cleaning CO2 from the air.  Here, here and here,” he said, pointing to various locations on the schematic.  “It’s indicating malfunction and others are failing.”

            Scott, located the closest one and called Greer on the radio to meet him in the gate room, Eli following with the Kino.  They passed TJ in the corridor as she came into the room.  “Dr. Rush?  Colonel Young wants to see you,” she said, offering Belle a weary smile.

            “And I’m sure when I don’t have more pressing matters to attend to, I will run right down to see him,” Rush said, concentrating on the console.

            “How is he?” Belle asked, worried over her friend’s haggard appearance.

            TJ shrugged.  “As well as can be expected, I guess.  He’s regained consciousness and the paralysis in his legs is slowly leaving him.  The next  hour or so will give me more to go on.  I’ll be able to see if he’s going to be permanently damaged or if he’s going to get stronger.”

            Rush followed the Kino footage that appeared on his screen, wishing Eli had a firmer grasp on the camera’s workings so it would stop whirling about.  “Lieutenant, there should be a kind of grate covering the node.”

            Greer’s voice came back after a moment.  “Yeah, we found it.”

            “What do you see?”

            Scott’s voice was strained over the walkie.  “A problem.  We see a very big problem.”

            Finally, the Kino swung to the node and zoomed in on it…and the nasty black sticky gunk it was covered in.  His radio crackled, Park and Kane on the other end reporting another door they’d found that would be inaccessible.  Belle lifted her radio from her belt and confirmed that she’d marked it off and to keep searching.  “Go, Rush, I’ve got this.  It’s more important that you tend to the life support issue,” she said, urging him to go.  “You can’t do everything at once.”

X*X*X*X*X

            Rush crossed his arms over his chest and watched grimly as Brody hunched down and tested the gunk covering the node.  The engineer shook his head, confirming their worst fears.  “Alkaline.”

            TJ nodded.  “Everyone’s heart rates are elevated, people are reporting headaches.  It has to be.”

            “What?” Scott asked.

            Brody rose to his feet.  “The used-up residue of whatever magic compound the Ancients used to scrub CO2 from the air.”

            Scott groaned, pacing in agitation.  “So, now we have two big problems relating to the life support.”

            “Our first priority must be to seal off any of the leaks,” Rush pressed.  “If we can manage that, then we can maybe buy ourselves a day or so before the buildup of CO2…kills us.”

            Scott winced, rubbing at the ache in the back of his neck.  “As it stands, how much time do we have?”

            “I don’t know.”

            Brody shrugged.  “Couple of hours at most.”

            “Huh.  Awesome!” Eli snarked from where he was sitting at the base of the stairs in the gate room.

            Rush sighed.  “Brody, there was some medical-grade soda lime in the supply manifest?”

            Dr. Palmer, the blonde geologist, shook her head negatively.  “It never made it.”

            “That’s a pity,” Rush said, removing his notepad from the pocket of his waistcoat.  He hunched down in front of the node and prodded the steaming gunk with the tip of his pencil.  “Well, in a ship this old, there’s bound to be systems past their designed life.”

            Scott shifted uncomfortably, feeling Chloe’s penetrating gaze on him.  “Okay, let’s say we find the leaks.  Can you fix this?”

            Rush huffed a short mirthless laugh.  “I doubt this stuff can be cooked off,” he said, frowning down at the thick residue now sticking to his ruined pencil.  “Perhaps if there were stores of this substance in a clean form, or something else capable of CO2 sequestration, calcium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, then yes, _if_.”

            “Okay, well, that’s not going to matter because you’re going to get the gate dialed back to Earth before this becomes an issue, Rush, right?”

            Rush regained his feet and turned to the young officer.  “Lieutenant…that’s the kind of thing you’re taught to say in officer training, presumably for the benefit of those who don’t know any better,” he said quietly.

            Scott moved within inches of the doctor, jaw clenched as he tried to reign in his temper.  He refused to lose it in front of the Senator’s daughter, not wanting his behavior to reflect badly on himself or his team.  The heat went out of him and he uttered the only word he could find appropriate for the situation.  “Please.”

            Rush regarded him through narrowed eyes, disgusted that everyone put so little faith in him.  “What makes you think I won’t try?”  Without waiting for an answer, he turned on his heel and left the gate room.

X*X*X*X*X

            Belle closed her eyes as she leaned her head back against the bulkhead, pulling her feet up onto the bench to wrap her arms around her knees as she sat next to Rush in the control interface room.  One of the Kino searches had found a shuttle, two according to Rush, each in their own separate docking sleeves.  One was intact.  The other, unfortunately was not.  There was a gaping hole where the left viewing window used to be and though the ships shields prevented it from venting the atmosphere, it was not one hundred percent effective.  To make matters worse, the bay door was defective and couldn’t be closed. Franklin was trying to repair it manually, but hadn’t met with much success.  There was another door on the rear of the shuttle, but it could only be closed from the inside.

            Everyone was quiet, each individual trying to come to terms with the newest dilemma.  Except Eli.  “My head is pounding,” he said into the Kino.  “Heartbeat has accelerated.  It’s getting harder and harder to breathe.”  His voice dropped dramatically.  “As our very lives are being vented out into space.”

            If the situation hadn’t been so precarious, Belle would have been hard pressed to laugh.  Scott reached for the remote to take it away from him, but Eli danced out of reach.  “That is going to get very old very fast,” The young lieutenant admonished.

            The Kino hovered near his shoulder as Eli’s gaze flitted back and forth between the occupants gathered in the room.  “This needs to be documented.”

            “No one’s going to see that,” Scott said irritably.

            “How do you know? We made it here.  Someone else could, too.  If we die, maybe this can help them find out what happened to us.”

            Rush leaned forward, resting his palms against his knees.  “Yeah, well we’re not dead yet,” he snapped.  “We don’t have a choice.  Someone is going to have to go in there and close that door.”

            Belle’s eyes flew open as an idea occurred to her.  “What if we pilot a Kino into the shuttle and drop it down onto the door switch?  Is that possible?”

            Rush whipped his head around to stare at her in stunned surprise, but Eli quickly shot that idea down.  “That won’t work.  The Kinos are designed to fly at a certain height.  I’ve already tried to reprogram one, but it’s resistant to everything I’ve tried.  The only way it will fly lower is if it’s weighed down with something.  Even if I were able to do that, there’s no way I could get it to then press down on the switch.”

            Rush nudged her gently with his shoulder.  “It was still a good idea.”

            Eli turned back to his Kino.  “I’m starting to have slightly blurred…”

            “Eli!!” Scott snapped.

            “What?”

            Scott crossed his arms over his chest and turned back to Rush.  “So how are we going to decide who?”

            “I assume we’re not going to get any volunteers,” the doctor said dryly.

            Chloe paced around one of the consoles.  “What’s another day going to buy us?”

            “Time…to find a way to survive,” he said quietly, holding out his hand to TJ.  “May I see the list?”

            TJ passed him the clipboard she’d been holding to her chest.  “I marked the names of anyone injured.”

            Rush carefully perused the list.  “We have to find out people’s skills, background, experience…”

            “Rush…” Belle said, casting him a pained look.

            “It doesn’t take any special skills to die from asphyxiation!” the lieutenant yelled angrily.

            Rush pushed himself up from the bench.  “Look, what I’m saying is it shouldn’t be someone with potentially valuable knowledge or abilities we might need to help us survive beyond this.”

            A gasp of horror slipped past Chloe’s parted lips.  “Are you really suggesting what I think…”

            Scott interrupted before she could finish the thought.  “Half the people on this ship already want to kill you.”

            “I don’t care.”

            Chloe stared at him, wondering what had happened in his life to make him so cold and unfeeling.  “You can’t ask someone to sacrifice themselves…period.”

            He returned her pointed glare.  “Politicians ask military personnel to sacrifice themselves for the good of others all the time.  If someone doesn’t go in there and close that door, we’re all gonna die…period.”

X*X*X*X*X

            “Miss French, why don’t you sit down?  You look like you’re about to collapse,” Rush said, frowning at his assistant where she was slumped dejectedly against the console.

            Belle pulled the clipboard out of his hands, taking note of his scribblings next to some of the names.  “No, we have work to do,” she protested.  “Volker? Seriously, Rush?  He’s an astrophysicist.”  She snorted when she noticed there were three lines drawn through her own name.  “Why is my name marked off?  There are plenty others more qualified to be here than me.”

            “You’re worth more than three Volkers any day of the week, Miss French, as I’m sure you are well aware,” he deadpanned, arching a brow at her.

            She snorted, setting the clipboard to the side of the console and rubbing at the headache the Advil had seemingly had no effect on.  “Regardless of what _you_ think, we can’t ask anyone to sacrifice themselves, Rush.”

            “If I can get the door override working,” Eli said as he entered various keystrokes into the console he hovered over across the room, “we won’t have to ask anyone to do it.”

            “Ah, the optimism of youth,” Rush snarked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.  Belle cut him a scathing glare.  “Don’t look at me like that, Miss French.  We have to be realistic.  It’s one or all of us.”

            “What if we jammed something under the door long enough to give the person inside time to get out?”

            Eli answered without looking up.  “Franklin and Greer already tried that.  We don’t have anything strong enough.”

            “How about welding something over the door?” she asked despite the fact that she knew she was grasping at straws.

            Rush shook his head sadly.  “If we could find something suitable, we would still run out of air before the repair could be made.  Our only option is for someone to close it from the inside.”          

            “Rush—“

            “Greer, this is Scott, come in,” came the lieutenant’s voice over the radio clipped to Belle’s waist.  The radio was still tuned to the channel she’d used earlier to talk with the master sergeant.  “Greer?  Greer, do you read?  Senator Armstrong is missing.  He may be headed your way.”

            The senator was in terrible shape, bleeding internally from the wounds he’d sustained in the attack on the base.  Belle’s fingers dug painfully into Rush’s arm as she turned to him, her eyes wide with horror.  “Rush, you don’t think Chloe told her father about—“

            “If I were to hazard a guess, then yes, it would seem so,” he said, frowning down at the radio in her hand.

            Greer finally answered and confirmed their suspicions.  “He’s here.  He’s got a gun.”  He left the link open and his voice crackled through the room.  “I don’t want to shoot you,” he said softly, Belle recognizing that tone as the one he used when trying to reason with someone.  “And I don’t think you want to shoot me.”

            Senator Armstrong could be heard, his usually commanding tone weak, his breathing labored.  “Get out of the way.”

            Franklin’s voice came as if from a distance.  “Just give me a little more time.  Let me try and fix this.”

            Belle twisted her hands in the fabric of Rush’s waistcoat.  “He’s not going to be able to fix it, is he?”

            Rush shook his head and slipped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her trembling form closer to offer support and comfort.

            Eli clicked on his own radio.  “Guys, I’m not seeing any change.  Whatever you just tried it’s not working!”

            Rush looked over at Eli.  “The problem’s obviously mechanical.”

            Belle lifted her gaze to his, willing the tears threatening not to spill over her lashes.  “Can’t you try?”

            “We’ve tried everything we can to fix that door, Belle.  There’s nothing more we can do,” Rush said somberly, feeling her pain as if it were his own.  He wasn’t the heartless monster they all thought he was.  He didn’t want to sacrifice _anyone_ , yet it was necessary to save everyone else on board.

            They stared down at the console as the interior camera on the shuttle showed the senator stagger into the pilot’s seat and sit down.  He pressed the button and the bay door shut with a resounding clang as Chloe and Scott’s voices erupted over the radio.

            “Dad!  No, wait!” she cried, pounding on the door.  “Dad, no!  No!  No!  No!  Open the door!  Open the door, please!”

            Franklin cried, “I can’t.”

            Greer explained to Scott hoping to head off the other man’s furious speech.  “He was dead on his feet.”

            “Eli!  Eli, please, not him!” Chloe sobbed, pleading with Eli over the radio.

            Rush pressed Belle’s head tightly to his chest, covering her ears with his hands so she wouldn’t hear anymore.  Eli’s face scrunched up in anguish as he lifted his radio closer to his mouth.  “There’s…There’s nothing I can do from here.”

            Belle sobbed quietly in his arms, her entire body shaking gently as he rubbed a callused hand over her back.  He reached over and pressed several buttons, banishing the image of the senator’s expired form in the shuttle.  He pried the radio from her cold fingers and switched it off, unable to bear the sound of the girl’s grief on the other end.  “Well, at least he bought us a day.”

            Belle pushed roughly out of his arms, her eyes shooting icy blue daggers at him.  “How can you say that!?”

            “Miss French—“

            Whatever he’d been about to say was abruptly cut off as Chloe raced into the room and barreled into him, putting all the weight of her thin frame into it, knocking him back to sprawl atop one of the benches as she pummeled him with her fists.  Rush raised his arms over his head, trying to block her blows, refusing to strike back and take the risk of hurting the distraught girl.

            “You!  You did this!” she shrieked, pounding into him with all the pent up rage and pain she felt, wanting to share it with the one she blamed.  “You killed him!  You’ve killed all of us!”

            Scott rushed in behind her, grabbing her around the waist, trying to pull her off the doctor.  “Chloe, stop!” he said, slipping an arm across her chest and pinning one of her arms.  “A little help here!”  TJ darted forward to grab the girl’s flailing free arm as Rush slowly rose to his feet, staring at her with sorrow in his dark eyes.

            Chloe still struggled against Scott and TJ as they held her tightly.  “Get away from me...all of you!”

            Belle closed the distance between them, taking the girl’s hand in hers and giving it a comforting squeeze, but Scott was reluctant to let go of her.  “Chloe, please.  You have to stop.  You think you’re the only one who’s ever lost someone they loved?  He chose his own fate.  You think he did this for us?  For any of us?”

            “It’s his fault,” Chloe hissed, pointing a finger at Rush.  “My father didn’t have a choice.”

            “Yes he did!” Belle said emphatically.  “He found out what was going on and saw this as the only way he could save you… _you_ , Chloe.  He didn’t do this for us, he did it for _you_!  Don’t disrespect his choice by casting blame on someone else.”

            Chloe stared back at her through narrowed eyes.  “Oh please,” she sneered.  “You will do or say anything to defend your precious Dr. Rush.  He’s got you brainwashed into going along with anything he says no matter who gets stepped on and trampled in the process.”

            Belle shook her head in denial.  “Rush has faults, just as much as anyone and when he’s wrong, which is more often than you would think, I will be the first one to tell him.  This isn’t about him.  This is what your father _chose_ to do.  He was hurt…badly…and he saw this as his last great act of love for his only daughter.”  Tears fell over her lashes as her mind flashed back to another sacrifice, one that had left her raw and bleeding.  She knew exactly how the girl was feeling.  “At least you have friends here who care about you, who will support you and care for you through your grief.  I didn’t have _anyone_.”

            Her lower lip trembled as her mouth fell open, realizing what she’d said, what she’d revealed and she quickly turned, taking in the stunned expression on Rush’s face.  Without another word, she ran from the control room, leaving behind a stunned silence at her outburst.  She needed to be alone, she needed space to pull her ragged emotions back under her firm control and bury the past back in the that little corner of her mind where it couldn’t hurt her anymore.  Where it belonged.

X*X*X*X*X

            Belle stared out the great long window on the observation deck, her legs dangling over the edge of the floor, her arms propped on the metal railing as she took in the beauty of the ship moving through FTL.  Her tears had dried long ago, yet she didn’t have the will to pull herself up from her perch and drag herself back to the control room.  Her mind whispered that she had work to do, that Rush needed her by his side to muddle through the vast amount of data they needed to acquaint themselves with, but her heart screamed that she wasn’t ready.  It needed time, despite the fact that she had little of that to spare.

            She caressed the tea cup pendant that hung about her neck, the same charm Gold had given her when he’d returned from Neverland, promising she’d never have to worry about losing her memories of them again.  When she’d run from Storybrooke after he’d sacrificed himself to save them all, she’d been so tempted to take it off, to forget the pain, the heartbreak, the utter despair of his loss, but she couldn’t bear the thought of becoming Lacey again.  He wouldn’t have wanted that.  He loved _her_ …Belle, so Belle she would be.  Broken, lost and alone.  But she wasn’t alone anymore.  She had Nicholas and she had her work and her work had led to her new friends, TJ, Greer and Eli.  The circle of life that kept turning and leading her forward into a new life. 

            _Magic can do much, dearie, but it can’t bring back the dead._   She’d heard that so much over the years it would be something she’d always remember.  He’d never be able to come back to her, she knew that and no amount of praying or wishing would make it so.  Now she was a billion light years from home, on the opposite side of the universe.  She couldn’t go back if she wanted to…which she didn’t.  There was nothing left for her on Earth and she needed to stop dwelling on the pain she found whenever his memory surfaced.  She would always love Gold, he’d always hold her heart, but one day she hoped she would find way to bring forth his memory without the constant debilitating pain.

            She thought of the poor girl she’d left in the control room.  Chloe’s father had made the same kind of sacrifice and she couldn’t help but think of the father she’d left in Storybrooke.  Somehow she couldn’t imagine Maurice French making the same sacrifice for her.  He hadn’t tried to stop her from leaving when she’d made her deal with Rumpelstiltskin and he’d turned his back on her when she’d fallen in love and decided to stay with the Dark One.  No she couldn’t see him dying to save them all.  She’d run for ten years, run from everything that Storybrooke had represented, constantly looking over her shoulder.  One day they would find themselves in another crisis and need Gold.  When that happened, she being the only one to know more than a few of his secrets would need to be found in order to rescue them.  She couldn’t…wouldn’t…return.  Ever.  They were on their own.

            Belle stiffened as the door opened, but she didn’t turn to see who it was.  She’d know that soft tread anywhere.  Whether it was a soft hesitant step as it was now or the sure confident stride he used when he was working.  Warmth flooded her, almost able to feel the concern radiating from him.  Rush was her rock, he had been for years now as their working relationship had blossomed into a deep friendship.  He slowly lowered himself to her side, unsure of what to say though she knew it wouldn’t take him long to find the words.  It never did.  But instead of asking how she was or what her outburst had been about, he stretched out his hand and opened his fingers to reveal a solitary pink watermelon Jolly rancher resting on his palm.  Her favorite.  He must have opened the new package she had stowed away in her bag.  It amazed her that he paid enough attention to know the flavor she preferred the most.

            She accepted his offering, peeling off the wrapper and popping the sweet candy into her mouth, the flavor bringing her comfort and a sense of normalcy.  Her heart was still a bit ragged, but his presence seemed to ease the ache, something she was beginning to realize he was able to do more and more often.  She didn’t want to examine it too closely.  If she did, she’d have to admit to herself that her feelings towards him were more than the platonic friendship she shared with him.  She didn’t know if she would ever allow herself to love again, not wanting to suffer through the heartbreak of losing someone else she loved.  What they had was safe and that’s how she planned to keep it.

            They sat in silence for a good while before she found the will to speak.  “Thank you,” she said, her voice a ragged whisper.

            Rush kept his eyes trained on the view before them, giving her the time, scared to make a sudden move and have her bolting from the room.  “Why don’t you ever talk about him, Miss French?  It helped me to talk to you about Gloria.”

            “I know, and I’m glad you cared enough to share that with me.”  Her palm slid easily into his as she twined their fingers together.  “I know it was difficult for you.”

            “Miss—“

            “Will you please stop calling me that?” she asked softly.  “In light of our new circumstances where we don’t know if we’re going to live or die, I’d really like…”

            “Belle,” he amended, squeezing her hand.  He wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms, to tell her that he wouldn’t allow any harm to come to her, but he wouldn’t lie to her when things were so uncertain.  He cared too much to make light of their situation with false assurances.  He would have to content himself with sitting by her side, her warm hand clasped within his own.

            “There was this man…very evil if you believe someone can be truly evil…he was a threat to everyone.  The only way to stop him…” Her voice trailed off, a tear slowly trickling from the corner of her eye as she tried to open up to him.  She would never be able to tell him of her past.  He’d think she was insane if she told him about fairy tales come to life in the modern world.  “Gold sacrificed himself to save us.  He did it to save me and his son.”

            “His son?  Not yours?” Rush asked, stroking his thumb gently over the back of her hand as he listened.

            “Not mine.  Bae is a few years older than I am.  It’s complicated.  But Gold didn’t care that he was saving everyone.  He did it for the two of us,” she said, some of the bitterness she’d harbored for years, easing away. 

            “You said you didn’t have anyone.  Surely his son would have been there for—“

            “I had no one.  I witnessed Gold’s death first hand, unable to do a thing to stop him and every last one of those people…people I thought were my friends…” she said, a broken sob tearing from her throat.  “They left me there sobbing in the street without a word as they set about to clean up the mess Pan left.  Not even Bae offered one word of sympathy.  So I left.  I left and never looked back.  They didn’t care about Gold and they didn’t care about me.  What did I have there to make me stay?”

            “And the senator’s sacrifice dredged everything you experienced back to the surface.”

            Belle brushed angrily at her tears and buried her memories deep within her, vowing it was the last she would ever allow them to surface.  “It doesn’t matter.  I just hope Chloe is able to heal quicker than I was.  She has people here who care for her and will help her through this.”

            Rush gently lifted her face to meet his gaze.  “In all the late night chats we shared, why did you never tell me?”

            Belle smiled fondly at the memory of working late with him first as his TA and then later on the Icarus project.  Coffee and tea and cold Chinese takeout.  Long talks of what their goals were and how to meet them.  One particular night she’d found him nursing a bottle of scotch in his darkened office, full of regret that he hadn’t been able to save Gloria.  He’d bared his soul to her.  That was the night she realized she cared for him as more than just her teacher and mentor.  “It’s not something I like to talk about, Rush.  It’s the past and that’s where it should remain.”

            “Is it selfish of me to be thankful that you’re here with me?” he asked, his lips quirking up slightly in a wry grin.

            “Facing our impending doom?  Not at all,” she quipped, feeling lighter by the moment.  “I can honestly say there’s no place I’d rather be.”

            He rose to his feet, pulling her up with him, his fingers still entwined with hers.  “Then shall we get back to work?”

            “Yes, I—“  She was interrupted by the radio squawking at her waist.

            “Rush!”  An alarm sounded in the background and his brows drew together in a deep frown.  “Rush!  Someone’s dialing the gate!”

X*X*X*X*X

            Belle was out of breath by the time she and Rush reached the gate room.  Their mad dash down the corridor with the added situation of their failing life support left her fighting to pull enough air into her lungs and she collapsed against the console next to Riley.

            Rush was surprised to see the colonel.  “Colonel Young, you’re up,” he said, his features closed off into a blank mask.

            Young huffed a short laugh.  “Nice to see you too, Rush.  I did order you to report to me.”

            “Yes,” he admitted, waving him off.  “But what are you doing?”

            “We’re trying to dial Earth.”

            Rush bristled with outrage, barely concealed and contained.  “That would be a mistake.”

            Young smiled, the gesture pained as if he were smelling something unpleasant but didn’t want anyone to know.  “Riley thinks he’s found the address for home.”

            Belle sidled up next to Eli and watched him adjust the settings on the Kino that was recording the exchange between the colonel and the lead scientist.

            “His understanding of Ancient is marginal at best,” Rush sneered.

            Riley took exception to that, but managed to maintain a neutral tone.  “With respect, doctor, I know enough to recognize a reference to Earth.”

            “He says the address wasn’t that hard to find, Rush.”

            Rush stared hard at the colonel.  The man never ceased to be a thorn in his side and he was beginning to rue the day he’d met him.  “No, no. This is a complete waste of power we may need.”

            Scott stood next to his commanding officer to lend his support.  “We have the address back.  All we need is the right point of origin.”

            That infuriating grin was back on Young’s face.  “And we’ve got thirty six tries.”

            “We’ll be adrift with _no_ power if you persist with this,” Belle said, glowering at the colonel.

            “We barely have enough power to operate the main systems.  This ship simply doesn’t have the capability to dial Earth,” Rush said.

            “You see, that’s news to me.”

            Eli’s anxious gaze swung between the two.  “He didn’t tell me that either.”

            “Well, I’ve only just learned myself.”  Rush pointed an accusing finger in Eli’s direction, hissing, “And you know what I’ve been doing.”

            Young leveled Belle with a steely glance.  “But I suppose you knew, didn’t you, Miss French?  Because everyone knows that Rush doesn’t do a damn thing you’re not privy to.”

            Belle shrugged, returning his gaze with one of her own.  She would _not_ let him intimidate her.  “One of the many perks of my job, Colonel.”

            Young sighed.  “Even if it doesn’t work, the people aboard this ship need to see us at least try.”

            The gate continued to whir and grind as Rush advanced on Young, not afraid to get in the man’s face to get his point across.  “So what, you’re going to drain what little power we have for the sake of morale?  How rsidiculous!”

            The ship groaned and Belle had to grab the edge of the console as a wave of dizziness washed over her.  Scott looked around, bewildered.  “What was that?”

            “The FTL drive just disengaged,” Belle said, gently nudging Riley aside so she could pull up the necessary data on the screen.

            “Why?” Riley asked.  “Because we’re draining power?”

            Rush’s mouth quirked up in a small knowing smile.  “No.  If I’m right, the gate should begin to dial at any moment.”

            The gate did indeed begin to dial, the soft whir and grind filling the stunned silence of the gate room.  “How did you know that?” Scott asked suspiciously.

            “The ship detected a stargate on a planet within range that may have what we need,” Rush said, confident he was right.

            “What?” Young asked.  “How the hell are there even stargates out here?”

            Rush cast the colonel a condescending smirk as he quickly explained.  “The Ancients sent out a number of unmanned ships ahead of this one.  They’re programmed to gather data, resources, to manufacture stargates and deposit them on habitable worlds.  Any relevant information is relayed back here to help plot the course.”

            “You’re telling me that this ship knows we’re in trouble?” Young asked incredulously.

            Rush whirled around, glaring at the colonel, his attention finally focusing away from the gate.  “Yes, because I told it we were,” he snapped.  Essentially, we’re flying on autopilot.  This ship may have stopped when it was in range of a stargate, regardless of our need.  But I have reason to believe…”

            The gate whooshed outward, the wormhole now open and settled into the puddle.

            Young raked a hand through his short cropped dark hair as he stared at the event horizon held within the gate.  “So, what we need is on the other side of that wormhole.”

            Rush smirked.  “An educated guess, yes.”

            Young limped forward, his awkward gait taking him closer to the stargate.  “Well, there’s only one way to find out.

            “Sir, you can’t do that.  We have no idea what’s on the other side,” Riley said.

            Eli rushed forward.  “We can use the Kino to find out.”

            Rush found a new appreciation for Eli’s new toy.  “I expect that’s the purpose of this device,” he said, watching it fly through the puddle to the other side, disappearing through the wormhole.

            Belle’s smiling voice filled the silence as they waited.  “I’m getting readings over here.  Temperature, gravity, atmosphere composition, barometric pressure, oxygen, nitrogen, very little CO2, extremely low humidity.  Habitable but barely.”

            Rush nodded.  “Good enough.”

            “Looks like four other addresses came up here, too,” Brody called as he hovered over the second console with Dr. Park.  Rush moved to his side and looked over the data.

            “No, no, no.  They’re locked out.  The ship chose this one.  The stargate is open, all we have to do is step through,” Rush said, not wanting to take a chance on something the ship strongly advised against.

            Young shook his head.  “No, what we have to do is put a team together.”

X*X*X*X*X

            Belle tossed a pair of pants over the giant crate of…well she didn’t know what was in it.  It was one of the crates the Ancients had left in one of the many storage bays that Rush ducked behind to change for his foray down to the planet.  She was furious and didn’t care if he caught the military grade uniform pants or if they whacked him upside his stubborn head.

            “I don’t see why I can’t go.  Palmer’s going.  Is it because I’m a woman or because you have so little faith in me?” she asked, boiling mad because they’d excluded her from the chosen team being sent to search for the things they needed to repair the life support system.

            Rush glared at her in exasperation over the top of the crate.  “You know I have every faith in you.  Palmer is a geologist, Belle.  She is necessary to this mission.”

            She tossed him a pair of boots next.  “I could go in Franklin’s place.  You don’t like him anyway.”

            Franklin glared at her from across the room.  “Thanks for that, Belle,” he said acidly.

            Belle ignored him as Rush worked on getting his feet into the heavy boots.  “Franklin has his uses.  It was either him, Brody or Volker.  I would have preferred having Brody on the team, but the colonel chose Franklin.  I had nothing to do with that decision.”  He grunted as the jacket came flying over the crate and got tangled around his head.  He was slowly losing his patience with her.

            She braced her hands atop the crate and glowered at him, her mouth pressed into a tight thin bloodless line.  “I’m your assistant.  If you go, then so should I be allowed.”

            “You’re not trained to go off world.  Perhaps if the climate were better I would consider it,” he offered, pulling on the jacket.

            “Eli isn’t trained either and he’s going!  The boy was beamed out of his house…yesterday!!  His most recent foray into the great outdoors involves going to the 7-eleven for a slurpee…”

            “Hey!” Eli called, struggling into his own boots.

            “…so your ingenious excuses just do not hold weight, Rush!”

            Scott and Greer snickered quietly as they dressed for duty and Rush ground his teeth together.  She was working herself into a fine rage and it would only worsen if he didn’t somehow put a stop to it.  He grabbed her elbow in a firm grip and pulled her into the shadows and hopefully out of earshot of the remaining occupants of the large room.

            “Stop it,” he hissed, his features showing the tension in the lines around his eyes and mouth.  “You’re not going.  The colonel agrees with me…for once…and there will be no more arguing.”

            “Wanna bet?” she threatened.

            “Belle, there is still much work to be done here on the ship.  I have nine searches running in the database, there are still sections of the ship that need to be searched for damage and I’m hoping that soon you will find us suitable quarters.  I need you here,” he whispered urgently.  “I’m depending on you.”

            “You play dirty Nicholas Rush,” she said, folding her arms over her chest and raising her chin defiantly.  She couldn’t ask the questions that plagued her and continue to meet his gaze at the same time.  “What if you get caught on the other side and can’t get back to the ship?” she asked in a small voice.

            He slung his pack over his back and led her from the storage bay and back into the gate room, the rest of the team already assembled near the ramp.  He pointed to the countdown clock embedded over the door in the gate room.  “Look.  We have twelve hours to gather what we need and get back to the ship before we jump back into FTL.  I will be back.  I promise.”

            Rush strode up the ramp, following the team that was already disappearing through the event horizon.  Before he could step through he turned and met her anxious gaze, taking note of the way she worriedly bit her lip.  All they had was each other.  It would be easier to sever a limb than permanently leave her behind.  Twelve hours would be plenty of time to find the things they needed and return to her.  What could go wrong?

            “Wait!” she called, sprinting up the ramp to reach his side.  She reached into her pocket and pulled out a handful of Jolly Ranchers and tucked them into his pocket.  “For luck.”

            He hesitated only a moment, his sable eyes caressing her face with his warm gaze and then stepped through the puddle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So thrilled by the positive response to this fic. Loved all the comments and likes and kudos and etc. You know what I mean, lol. Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well. Thank you all for following and taking the time to read.


	3. Air Part 3

            Belle slumped wearily over the console, a Kino remote propped against the screen so she could monitor the images as well as the ships schematic.  One team was still doing a random search of one of the corridors near the dome room--that had been sealed off.  The rest of the teams had been recalled due to the thinning air and complaints of headaches and tightness in their chests.  She snorted.  She was still working, but then she had an iron will and determination to get her job done.  Some of these people didn’t know what hard physical work was, never having ventured from a desk in their entire career.  If it was one thing she’d learned living in the Dark Castle, it was that a little hard work was good for the soul.  It kept not only the hands, but the mind occupied.  And that was exactly what she needed now.

            The searches Rush was running through the database had turned up nothing so far, and she only had to check them periodically.  The only thing of interest she’d learned was the ship’s name…Destiny.  She was certain her workaholic doctor would contemplate the meaning of that for a good while.  Another secret pertaining to the ancient rust bucket they were trapped on, and he’d missed it because he had insisted on journeying through the gate to the desert planet _._

_I should be with him_ , she thought irritably.    It wasn’t fair that he got to go down to the first planet the ship stopped at since their arrival and she had to remain behind.  She was his assistant.  Where he went, she followed…or she had before this.  She didn’t want to admit to herself that she was worried something would happen to him and he wouldn’t return.  It was bad enough that she’d opened up to him about what had happened to Gold.  What had possessed her to do that?

            She drew in a ragged breath and lifted the radio to her mouth, recalling the team and sending them to the gate room with the others to report their findings to Young.  It had been easier than she’d thought it would be to talk to Rush.  He’d opened up to her about his wife’s death, after all.  That couldn’t have been any easier for him to do than it had been for her to tell him about Gold.  If she were honest with herself, it had felt good to unburden herself to him.  Perhaps now she could finally put it to rest and let the pain finally fade.  She couldn’t dwell on the past anymore if she were going to move forward.

            “Belle, did you hear me?” Dr. Lisa Park asked, her brows raised in question.

            Belle shook her head, forcing her troubled thoughts to the back of her mind.  “I’m sorry, Lisa.  I guess I was just lost in thought,” she apologized as she maneuvered the Kino into a corner of the gate room so she could have a good view of the stargate.  “Did you find something?”

            Park moved over to Belle’s console and switched through several screens before finding the one that had so intrigued her.  “I’ve abeen trying to identify and catalogue the different compartments that are habitable and I noticed there are these large common areas attached to each of the sections of crew quarters, but I don’t recognize this word.”

            Belle glanced down, a slow smile curving her lips as she read the words written in Ancient.  “Lavatory.  We know the quarters already claimed by the crew…if that’s what you want to call this ragtag bunch…don’t have en-suite bathrooms.  Perhaps this is a communal bathing chamber?”

            “Maybe we should check into it?” she asked, delighted by the prospect of slipping away from work for a while to go exploring.

            Belle frowned down at the screen.  “Lisa, what section of the ship is this?  I thought all the crew quarters were on the starboard side.  These are on the port side and they seem larger than the ones we’ve seen so far.”

            “Maybe they were for the ship’s officers?” Park said, shrugging.

            “I don’t know.  I’ll check it out later if I have time.  Why don’t you go and investigate this possible bathroom.  If we’re going to remain here for any length of time I really don’t want to think about doing without a shower,” she said, smiling at the woman.  “Take Brody or Volker with you, ok? I don’t think it would be a good idea to go alone until we get a better feel for the ship.  I don’t want you getting lost.”

            Belle continued to study the schematic after Park had gone, wondering if these could be possible quarters for her and Rush.  She knew he’d want something far removed from the rest of the crew, his privacy important to him.  She’d already labeled the schematic for each crew member who’d chosen quarters.  They were the only two who’d been too busy not to stake a claim.  She switched the screen back to the search of the database and noted there was no change, so she retrieved her ruck sack from beneath the bench and slung it over her shoulder.

            She tucked the Kino remote into the back pocket of her jeans and lifted the radio to her mouth as she set off for the unused section of the ship. “Riley, this is Belle.  Come in, please.”

            “They’re not back yet, Belle,” came the sergeant’s automatic reply.

            “I wasn’t—“ she began.

            “The team has only been gone for two hours.  Scott reported they’d had no luck in the immediate vicinity of the gate, and they were going to venture farther afield.”  The young man sighed and lowered his voice to a more friendly tone.  “I promise if I hear any more news, I will let you know.”

            She sighed in frustration, her worry increasing.  She knew what the planet was like, having seen the visuals provided by the Kino as well as the atmospheric readings.  It was not going to be pleasant.  “You’re right, I’m just worried.”

            “We all are, but Greer and Lt. Scott won’t let anything happen to our people,” he assured her.

            “Okay.  Look, I’m going to check on quarters for me and Rush.  Do you think you could monitor the search of the database from the console in the gate room,” she asked.

            The radio crackled again as his voice filtered up from the device.  “Are you sure you should be investigating the ship alone?”

            “I’ll be fine.  My radio is on so it’s not like I’m really alone.”

            “I’ll let you know if anything turns up with your search then,” he said, a smile in his voice.  “Riley, out.”

            Belle followed the corridor past the observation deck and ventured into one of the hallways towards the previously unsearched sections of the ship, praying she could remember the way from her brief study of the schematic of the ship.  Her trek brought her past the dome room that had been sealed off due to damage and into a deserted corridor with muted lighting, four doors spaced a good distance apart on either side.  Eight chambers in total.

            The first chamber she entered, reminded her of the quarters Colonel Young had commandeered for himself with a large desk and comfortable seating area with a doorway that led into a modest bedroom with a dresser, a bed flanked by a nightstand on either side and a table and two chairs.  She didn’t think it would do for Rush, so she left the chamber behind and ventured to the next, palming the lock.  She didn’t feel right about that one either, feeling it was more to his taste, but just not what she was looking for.  Neither did the next two.  Finally she came to the last chamber on the left of the hallway.

            This one was more suited to his tastes and she wondered if the Ancients had decorated the chambers with their own particular sense of style in mind.  There was a comfortable sofa and coffee table near the door, a larger bed than what she’d seen so far, a dresser and a nice sized table with two comfortable looking chairs.  A shelf spanning the wall, with muted lighting at intervals, served as a headboard for the bed and it too was flanked by a modest nightstand on either side of the bed.  Yes, this would do nicely.

            She set her rucksack on the bed and began unzipping the large compartment she’d set aside for him when they’d packed to leave for Icarus.  The man hardly ever dragged his nose out of his ever present notepad full of equations and calculations and therefore couldn’t be depended upon to be prepared for a situation the likes of which they’d found themselves in.  Being his assistant, she’d taken it upon herself to prepare for him.  It was a habit she’d developed when she’d fled Storybrooke.  She very seldom kept more with her than what was necessary and she was always prepared to run.  She’d never been more grateful than now that she was.

            Belle withdrew his laptop and set it on the table, the power cord hastily wrapped around it.  Hopefully there would be some way to charge it later.  She stacked several of his notepads in the nightstand to the left side of the bed and an unopened pack of pencils and a sharpener she found at the bottom of her pack _.  I don’t even remembered tossing that in there_ , she thought with amusement.  She moved the dresser and deposited the clothes she brought along in the top drawer.  Two vacuum-sealed space bags containing shirt, jeans, underwear and socks that she decided he could unseal later at his leisure.  She’d been embarrassed enough rifling through his things at the base.  She was wishing now she could have fit another pair of boots in there for him, but there just hadn’t been room.  She set a small bag with his toiletries atop the dresser and gave the room a once over, nodding in satisfaction that she’d done all she could.  It now had more homey feeling now that his things occupied the chamber.

            The pack felt lighter now, the lack of weight making her fidget nervously and she forced herself to clamp down on her nervousness and set it aside.  She was being silly.  There was nowhere to run now.  The gate couldn’t be dialed back to Earth and being on the other side of the universe, there wouldn’t be a shuttle trip home.  If the life support system could be fixed and they didn’t all die of asphyxiation, she could comfortably settle in and not have to worry about moving any time soon.

            She left the chamber to seek out her own, inspecting the four across the hallway before deciding on one for herself.  Dropping her pack on the bed, she left it there with a sigh.  She would have time to unpack later, she thought, and set out in the direction of the large chamber at the end of the hall enclosed by frosted glass doors.  The lights flickered on as she entered and she was better able to see the layout of the room.  Several enclosed stalls off to her right revealed stainless commodes and she was pleased to see she wouldn’t have to trek very far in the middle of the night to use the facilities.  There were benches along one wall as well as hooks to hang clothing from while occupied elsewhere, she supposed.  It was the shower stalls that captured her full attention.  The thick frosted glass enclosures would ensure privacy, though she was hoping she wouldn’t have to share the facilities with anyone when it came time for her to wash.  She was a very private person and the thought didn’t please her at all.

            Unless…

            No, no, no, no, no! _I refuse to give birth to that thought_ , she scolded herself firmly.  She was _not_ going to think of slipping into the shower with Rush.  It was bad enough that she was having improper thoughts and even more scandalous dreams about the man.  The thought of him naked and wet was…nope, she wasn’t going there.  Her cheeks were still flaming with heat as she opened one of the stalls and stepped inside to investigate.  There were jets spaced along the walls of the cubicle and one large lever which must be the operating mechanism.  Well, she didn’t have time for a shower and decided to leave that for later, anxious to get to the gate room.

X*X*X*X*X

            It was a bloody nightmare!  That was the foremost thought that kept tracking itself through his brain as he followed the rest of the team across the endless dunes of white sand.  So far they’d had no luck in finding the limestone needed to repair the life support system and if they didn’t find it soon, things were only going to get worse.  Although he had to admit, he’d never been so thankful for his little assistant’s obsession with hard fruity candies, he thought, popping another Jolly Rancher between his lips.  His mouth flooded with moisture as he sucked on it idly, rolling his eyes as Eli continued with his best impression of Charlton Heston in _Planet of the Apes._   The boy was determined to find something to entertain himself.  He had that in common with Belle…neither of them seemed comfortable with silence.

            Rush’s teeth ground together in irritation as Franklin complained for what seemed the tenth time that they should investigate the other gate addresses available to them.  “The ship locked those out for a reason,” he hissed.  “This is the gate available to us.  We’ll find what we need here.”

            It was quiet for a good five minutes, each one wanting to argue, but not anxious to spark the doctor’s virulent temper.   Eli sidled up next to Greer some distance ahead of Rush, but his voice was still loud enough to carry back on the oppressive air.

            “So what’s the story with Belle and Rush?” Eli asked in a stage whisper, causing the master sergeant’s lips to quirk up into a smirk.  “When I first met her, I thought she was his wife.”

            “Seriously?” Scott asked from his left, joining in on what would surely be an entertaining conversation.  “You thought they were married?”

            “They fight like they’ve been married for years,” Greer said, chuckling.  “Belle’s a sweet girl…much too good for the likes of him, but apparently she’s been his assistant for years.”

            Eli glanced over his shoulder at Rush, but the man gave no indication that he was listening.  “I know, right?  She’s sweet and she really seems to know what she’s doing, but it’s just creepy sometimes the way those two interact.”

            Scott cut him a look of surprise.  “You interested in her, Eli?”

            Eli looked taken aback and the two soldiers couldn’t tell if he was red in the face from the unrelenting rays of the sun or something more.  “What?! No, no, of course not…well…no,” the boy stammered.

            Rush’s hand tightened on the handle of the bag of testing gear he carried as he listened.  Eli was a good kid, but not someone Belle would be romantically interested in…would she?  Now that the seed had been planted in his mind, he couldn’t shake it loose and he didn’t like what it was doing to him.  His stomach churned as if he’d eaten live eels and he was reluctant to identify that feeling as jealousy.  Yet he couldn’t deny the unmistakable anger that roared through his slight frame.  It was so acute he was surprised to look down and to notice his hands were still their same tanned color instead of emerald green.  He snorted.  What did he have to be jealous over?  Belle had worked with him for years and she’d never shown the slightest interest in anything but her work.

            His brows drew together as he scowled at the men walking ahead of him.  They were all trapped on the ship now.  What if the cramped quarters and day to day danger of surviving made Belle long for comfort from the opposite sex?  She had her choice of eligible males.  He stopped as that unwelcome thought slammed into his gut with vicious intensity, casting a glance in the direction from which they’d traveled…the direction of the gate.

            “Dr. Rush?” Scott called, curious as to why the scientist had come to a halt.

            “We’ll test here.  It’s as good a place as any,” he snarled, dropping to his knees and pulling the testing supplies out of his bag, Dr. Palmer moving to his side to assist him.  He was happy to have the blonde geologist to help him, because his mind was far from his task, his thoughts filled with Belle and what she was doing in his absence.

X*X*X*X*X

            Belle drummed her fingers on the console she stood before in the gate room, her short nails tapping out her agitation in a rapid tattoo of sound.  The colonel and Chloe had used the communication stones to visit Earth…Young to report to O’Neil and Chloe to visit her mother to relay the sad news of the senator’s death.  Unfortunately, the colonel had switched with Colonel Telford.  She had to admit he was better than Dr. Peirce, but not by much.  He was cocky and arrogant and just rubbed her the wrong way.  As much as she disliked Young, she knew he would lead them well.  She didn’t trust Telford to have their best interests at heart.

            She could have happily kicked Brody for mentioning the four other gate addresses Destiny had locked out.  “I don’t care,” the man snarled, the lines around his mouth and eyes tight with pain from having to share Young’s body and his many injuries sustained when he’d evacuated the base.  “We need to explore all options available to us.”

            “Rush advised against it.  Every time we dial the gate, it drains our already limited power reserves,” Belle said, meeting the man’s hostile gaze with one of her own.

            “I don’t give a damn about what Rush advised.  There may be something on the other planets necessary to the survival of this crew.  That is our top priority.  Now find a way around the lockout,” Telford hissed.  “That’s an order, Miss French.”

            “Then thankfully I’m not under your command, Colonel, and therefore don’t have to obey.”

            TJ intervened as Telford reached up and pressed a hand to Young’s bruised ribs.  “Colonel, you need to rest,” she said evenly, leading him away from the gate room, before he could argue.

            Brody snickered at her side.  “Actually, Belle, we’re all pretty much under their jurisdiction, this being a military operation.”

            “That was so not in my job description,” she deadpanned.  “When it has to do with the scientific aspect of my job I will always follow Rush’s orders.  If I’m stuck on a planet in danger of aliens or wild boar? Then I’ll defer to Young and his team.  But then…that wasn’t Young now was it?”

            Belle watched them go and turned back to the console, her meaningful glare daring Brody to dial one of the locked out planets.  One of these days her mouth was going to get her into some serious trouble. _But not today_ , she thought with a wicked grin.  She had more experience with bullies than the colonel or anyone else of her acquaintance knew and she wouldn’t go against Rush’s instructions to follow Telford’s orders.   She glanced up at the countdown clock, the numerical figures clicking down in Ancient.  Six hours left, she thought miserably.  _Where are you, Rush?_

X*X*X*X*X

            “Miss French,” Colonel Young greeted, a faint smile on his lips as he steeped to her side at the console.

            She cocked her head to the side, regarding him silently as she took in the lack of hostility in his posture that Telford usually displayed.  “Good to have you back, Colonel,” she said with a nod.

            He huffed a short laugh, her sentiment high praise considering he wasn’t one of her favorite people.  “Has there been any news?”

            “Last contact was from Eli.  He said Scott split them into two teams. Scott, Greer and Rush on one and Eli, Palmer, Curtis and Franklin on the other.  Scott figured they could cover more ground if they split up,” she said, rubbing her hands over her face in an effort to scrub away a bit of her weariness.  It was going on far too long since she’d slept and the thinning air wasn’t helping her fatigue in the least.

            Her gaze jerked up as the puddle rippled and Riley cried out, “There they are.”`

            Belle didn’t hesitate, sprinting across the short distance to where Rush struggled down the ramp under the bulk of a wounded Franklin.  Barnes, Dunning and Spencer rushed forward to help the wounded scientist as TJ hurried into the gate room to assess his injuries.  “Rush!” she breathed out, nearly weak in her relief.            “What happened to Franklin?” she asked, casting a frown at the downed scientist.

            Rush collapsed to his knees against the cold floor, his breath coming fast and labored.  “Greer…” he gasped, trying to make himself clear, the words barely making it past his parched throat.  “Greer shot him.  Water!”

            Belle turned to fetch him a drink to find Riley at her side, holding out his canteen.  Rush snatched it out of her hand, upending the vessel to his lips and drinking greedily.  She laid a hand over his where it tightly gripped the canteen, her eyes meeting his.  “Slowly.  You’re going to make it come right back up if you drink too fast.”

            He didn’t, however, heed her warning, knowing well what his body needed far better than she did.  He thrust the canteen back at Riley, not a drop left.  The young sergeant smirked his displeasure.  “Well, that was my ration for the day.”

            Belle nodded to her own canteen sitting on the console across the room.  “You can have what’s left of mine.  Thank you,” she said, smiling at her friend.  She would fetch more for him from their limited stores.  “Rush, you look dreadful,” she murmured, helping him to his feet.

            He leaned heavily on her, smiling weakly.  “Yeah, well…”

            Young limped over.  “What’s going on, Rush?  Where are the rest of our people?”

            A condescending smirk lifted one corner of his mouth.  “Oh, we had a lovely day at the beach.  How ‘bout you?”

            “Could we cut through the horseshit and give me a straight answer?”

            “Fine!” Rush snapped, shifting a bit so he wouldn’t crush Belle beneath his weight.  “Palmer and Curtis dialed the gate to one of the other planets.  Eli tried to stop them, but they went anyway.  Franklin was going to go too and leave us stranded without the remote to dial back to the ship so I ordered Greer to shoot him.  Scott is out there on his own looking for the limestone and Greer left me and Eli at the gate before he went to search for him.”

            Young nodded, already swinging around and calling for Lt. James.  “Take two men and an extra Kino through the gate, Lieutenant.  Have Eli dial and get Palmer and Curtis back.  Then I want you to help Sergeant Greer search for Scott.”

            Belle turned her back on Young, leaving him to see about the rest of the mission and led Rush over to sit on the stairs.  “Miss— Belle!” he hissed in exasperation.  “Stop hovering, I’m fine!”

            Her eyes narrowed and her lips pressed into a thin line as she crossed her arms over her chest.  Without a word, she left him there to sort himself out.  He winced and smacked his palm over his face, burying his head in his hands as she stalked angrily back to the console she’d been monitoring.  He’d let his earlier annoyance bleed over into the present when she’d clearly been nothing but concerned for his well-being.  He wasn’t deserving of her concern if he was going to constantly act like an ass, he thought miserably, sneaking a glance in her direction.  She wouldn’t even look at him, concentrating on her work.  Damn!

            _Why do I continue to keep her at arm’s length_ , he wondered, casting a furtive glance at her…only to see that she wasn’t there any longer.  He sighed and leaned his head against the metal railing that curved up the side of the stairs, closing his eyes.  If he hadn’t let Eli’s earlier conversation with Scott and Greer get under his skin, he most likely wouldn’t have snapped at her.  No, scratch that.  Who was he kidding?  When didn’t he take his nasty temper out on her?

            Belle French was his only friend on the entire bloody ship.  If he weren’t careful, she wouldn’t want to have a thing to do with him and then where would he be?  For starters, she was the only person he could have a decent conversation with, her vast intellect rivaling even his.  He definitely couldn’t see sharing down time with Volker or Brody…or heaven forbid, Young.  He shuddered.  Belle had been with him so long, he didn’t want to imagine his life without her working by his side.  He couldn’t let his longing for her get in the way of that, nor could he continue to take advantage of her giving nature.  He was going to have to show her that he wasn’t the complete bastard other people thought him to be.

            He pushed his nausea aside…he suspected he might have a mild case of heatstroke…prepared to seek her out to learn what she’d been doing in his absence when a pair of soft brown suede boots appeared in his line of sight.  He kept his face impassive as he lifted his eyes to meet hers.  He could tell she was still angry at him from the tight set of her jaw, yet still she’d come to him to offer comfort.

            Belle took the cool wet cloth and moved his hair aside to lay it across the back of his neck and then handed him the canteen she’d filled.  “I brought you some more water.  I would advise again to drink it slowly…not that you ever listen to me,” she mumbled acidly beneath her breath.  “The search through the database has proven useless so far.”

            Rush did as she asked and sipped at the water when his fervent desire was to guzzle it.  “Thank you, Miss—“ He stopped abruptly when her eyes narrowed menacingly.  “Belle,” he amended.  When he scooted closer to the railing, making room for her, she took the hint and settled at his side.

            “I did find something interesting though,” she said, removing her iPhone from her pocket and pulling up the pictures she’d taken.  “Look at this.”  She pointed to the screen, showing him what she’d found. 

            “Destiny?” he asked, scrolling through the pictures. 

            She nodded, fighting back a yawn.  “Yeah.  I pulled it up on your console in the control interface room.  Provided no one went in there and started pushing buttons.”

            He handed the phone back, anxious to see the data for himself, but knowing it would have to wait until their current crisis had been resolved.  “And our quarters?”

            She rose from her seat and offered him a hand up.  “I think you’ll be pleased with what I was able to secure for us.  I’ll show you…later.”

            Rush watched her walk away, a slight bounce in her step and a smile on her lovely lips.  He wondered if he should be pleased that she’d completed her task or worried over the mischief so evident in her gaze.

X*X*X*X*X

            Belle leaned against the console in the gate room, wondering how she was even still on her feet as tired as she was.  Lt. James and her team had returned moments ago with no luck in finding Greer or Lt. Scott and they were running out of time.  “We’ve got less than three minutes before the ship jumps again,” Rush said, his eyes fixed on the countdown clock embedded into the wall behind them over the door leading into the ship.

            She raised the radio to her lips.  “Anything yet, Eli?”

            “No,” came his worried response.  “Nothing.  Nothing but sand.”

            A steady beeping noise, the alarm to alert them time was running short, sounded and Belle entered the command to shut it down.  “Less than one minute,” Rush said, his gaze moving back and forth between the clock and the gate.

            Belle chewed worriedly on her lower lip, to quell the whimper that fought to escape.  She would not let her courage fail her now.  She jumped when the radio burst to life in her hand, Eli’s excited tones meeting her ears.  “They’re here.  They’re carrying something!  They’ve got the lime...and they're not going to make it!”

            “Forty seconds,” Riley said, the countdown clock seeming to speed up.

            “Give me the radio,” Rush commanded, holding his hand out to Belle.  He moved to stand at the base of the short ramp leading to the gate, speaking urgently into the radio.  “Eli, I want you to stick your arm into the event horizon of the puddle.”

            “Seriously?” Eli squawked.

            Young stepped to the doctor’s side and gave him a dubious look.  “Are you sure?”

            Rush shook his head.  “No, but I’m betting there’s some kind of safety protocol to prevent someone from getting cut off en-route.”

            “But what if there isn’t?” the colonel questioned, worried for his team.

            Rush cast him a scathing glance.

            “20 seconds!” Belle called.

            Rush clicked the radio’s com button again.  “Do it now, Eli!”

            Belle stepped back, away from the console, and leaned against the wall, crossing her arms over her chest and hugging herself to ward off the chill that was slowly creeping over her.  The low tones of Riley’s voice droned on as he counted down.  “Five…four…three…two…one.”  They were going to leave without them and there was nothing they could do to stop it.

            The alarm sounded again as the clock reached zero, the ship beginning to groan as the FTL drives revved in preparation for the jump and still the gate remained open, the puddle rippling softly.  She offered up a silent prayer that Rush had made it back safely.  If they were all going to die, at least they’d be together, she thought a little hysterically.  The ship groaned and she clenched her hands into tight fists to still their trembling.  It seemed as if every man and woman in the gate room were frozen in anticipation and fear.

            Greer and Scott tumbled through the gate, staggering down the ramp with the heavy duffle filled with lime between them to collapse onto the cool metal floor.  Eli was but a second behind them and Rush hurriedly made his way to the boy’s side, shoving a canteen of water into his hands.  “Well done, Eli, well done,” he said, clapping him on the back.

            Belle slid down the wall, burying her head against her knees as the gate whooshed closed and Destiny jumped back into FTL.

X*X*X*X*X

            Belle clipped her radio back to her waist and propped her shoulder against the wall.  Rush stood nearby, overseeing the last node…or scrubber as Brody and Scott were fond of calling it since it would _scrub_ the CO2 from the air…put in place in the corridor leading to the control interface room.  It had been cleaned of the sticky black gunk that had built up on it for who knows how long and filled with the solution made from the lime.  It just needed to be fit back into place and turned on.  One last task and then maybe she would be able to find her bed.

            Brody and Volker lifted the node and set it into place, making sure it was secure and flipped the switch.  But instead of fresh clean air wafting sweetly from the vents, there was a buzzing alarm alerting them that something was wrong.  Belle threw her hands into the air and bit down on her tongue to hold her temper in check.  What else would persist in bedeviling them today?  She rubbed absently at the tension in the back of her neck as she marched back down the corridor into the control room and brought up the data she needed, the screen flashing red on the schematic where they’d just installed the node.

            “Just great,” she sneered at the screen.

            Rush came into the room to stand behind her, peering over her shoulder at the console.  “What is it?” he asked, leaning in closer and wishing his glasses hadn’t been broken upon his arrival through the gate when they’d evacuated Icarus.  His hand brushed hers aside and caressed her nape as she so often did to him.  “You know we can finish this without you if you want to go to bed.”

            “No,” she protested mildly.  “I want to see this finished.”  She didn’t add that she wouldn’t retire until he did.  He needed rest every bit as much as she did…even if he was too stubborn to admit it.

            He pressed the com button on his radio, drawing it out of his breast pocket.  “Brody, do you see an access door to the maintenance corridor behind the node?  Someone’s going to have to go in there and manually reset it.  It should be fairly easy.

            “Uh-oh,” came the reply.

            “What do you mean, _uh-oh_?  What kind of answer is that?  Either it’s there or it’s not,” Rush snarled into the radio.  Belle was practically asleep on her feet as he took her hand and pulled her from the room to where the two men stood staring into the darkened maintenance corridor.  He peered inside, stepping around them.  “Damn.”

            “That’s what we meant,” Brody said, shoving his hands into his pockets and waiting to hear suggestions from the others as to how they were going to reach the manual reset.

            “How are you going to fit in there?”  Belle asked, taking in the cramped space.  There were various panels and what looked like cooling pipes, not that she really knew what she was looking at.  Give her numbers and calculations and she could run them all day long.  When it came to the technical working such as this, she was lost.  All she knew for certain was that it was going to be a tight squeeze.  She felt the fine hairs on the back of her neck stand on end at the thought of going down that corridor.

            Volker looked her over, his eyes traveling her petite form from head to toe.  “Belle shouldn’t have any problems maneuvering her way through there.  She’s tiny enough.”

            “I’m not sending Belle in there,” Rush growled, not liking the idea of his little assistant in the dark confined space.

            “N-No, I’ll go,” she assured him with a weak smile.  “I can do it.”  Already her breath was threatening to freeze in her lungs at the thought of going in there, but she couldn’t let everyone down, least of all Rush.  It was her job to go where she was needed and she wouldn’t shirk her duty now when she never had before.  “I can stand up in there at least.  I won’t have to crawl.  Just don’t let the door close on me, okay?”

            “You don’t know how to reset the system, Belle—“

            “You can talk me through it,” she said, pulling her iPhone from her pocket and turning on the flashlight app.  She stepped up to the door hesitantly, taking a deep breath before walking through, ignoring the sharp acrid taste of fear on the back of her tongue.

            Rush, however, wasn’t going anywhere.  “Volker, go to the control room.  The schematic is already pulled up on my console,” he said, taking Brody’s radio and thrusting it at the ginger-haired astrophysicist.  He didn’t look at the man’s disgruntled expression as he stalked off to do as he was told, stepping towards the door.

            “Rush it’s going to be cramped enough in there with just Belle.  You shouldn’t—“ Brody warned, but Rush cut him off.

            “Do not presume to tell me something I can clearly see with my own eyes, Mr. Brody.  If she isn’t able to do it, I can help her.”  He followed her down the corridor, noticing that she glanced back every so often, her wide eyes confirming the door was still open.

            “Rush, I told you I could do this,” she retorted, stopping about half way down the long corridor.  She stood just behind the node, a panel on either side.

            He smirked at her in the dim glow of her flashlight.  “And it never hurts to have an extra pair of hands.”  He clicked the com button on the radio.  “Volker, we’re just behind the node.  There are panels on either side.  Tell me the procedure for the reset.”

            “Good thing you decided to go in with her, because it’s going to take both of you to reset the system,” Volker replied.  “Take the panel coverings off.”

            “Volker, there’s barely room to move in here,” Rush snarled. 

            “It should be fairly easy, Dr. Rush.  There are fastenings on either side of the panel and then it should slide down to reveal the mechanism.”

            “Got it,” Belle said, having released the covering on her side while the two men were bickering.

            “How are you doing that without dropping the flashlight?”

            “Ingenuity, Rush,” she snarked, turning to him so he could see that she’d tucked the phone into her bra, the light sticking out of the top.  He felt his mouth go dry as he stared at her chest.

            “Rush?” Volker said.

            He snapped back to attention, turning his gaze away from the tantalizing view to concentrate on the myriad buttons and whatnot inside the panel.  “Alright, we have both of the covers removed.  Next step.”

            “Inside there should be a row of green buttons.  Are you on the left or right of the node?”

            “The left,” he snarled through clenched teeth.  Really what did it matter?  He pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head, trying to banish the image of Belle’s top pulled down over her breasts so she could use her bra as a handy phone holder.

            “Ok, you have to depress the first and fourth buttons simultaneously on both panels.  Then just behind the node is a lever.  Pull it and it should manually reset.”

            Belle smiled, hoping he wouldn’t see how her hands trembled from being in the confined space.  “See, that should be simple enough.”  On the count of three, they pressed the buttons, a series of red lights above the panels showing clearly that they’d succeeded in their task.  Belle quickly replaced her panel, the sooner the better to be free of the corridor and back into the open space of Destiny’s main corridor.  All that was left to do was pull the lever.  Rush squeezed around her in the tight space and wrapped his hand around the lever, the node whirring to life, the solution inside the glass cylinder beginning to bubble and churn.

            The door slid shut with an ominous whoosh.

            Belle made her way as quickly as she could in the cramped space, to the door, planting her hands on it with a sharp smack.  “Brody, open the door!” she screamed through the heavy immovable metal.

            “The door lock isn’t working,” he called back.

            Belle was frantic as she felt along both sides of the door for the release mechanism, panic rising in her breast to choke her.  “Brody, get me out of here… _now_!”

            Rush crowded in behind her, making it feel as if the walls were closing in on her as he tried to help her find the door release.  She whirled on him, the top of her head bumping his chin as she grabbed a handful of his flak jacket in her icy fingers.  “Rush, please make him open the door.  I can’t be trapped again.  MAKE HIM OPEN THE DOOR!!!”

            “Volker, what the hell is wrong with the damn door?” he growled into the radio.  “It appears Belle is claustrophobic.  I need it opened.”

            “Then why’d she go in there?”

            Rush wanted to bang his head against the door.  He figured it would somehow be less painful than talking to the man.  “There should be some way to open it…an override…there on the console.”

            He was quickly losing his patience with the man as Belle’s soft whimpers turned into sobs that wracked her petite frame.  “Uh-oh,” came Volker’s reply, a quaver in his voice.

            “Not this again,” Rush murmured.  “What now?  There’s no override?”

            “There is, but I’m not as well versed in Ancient as—“

            “Then find someone who is.  Where is Park?” he asked, wincing as Belle’s nails dug into his chest. 

            “Um…”

            “Go find her!”  He shoved the radio into the back pocket of his jeans and slipped his arms around Belle’s waist, tucking her head beneath his chin.  “There, we have help coming.  We won’t be here long.  At least we have the flashlight,” he crooned softly against the crown of her head.

            The flashlight died a slow flickering death, leaving them in the muted glow of the lights from the panel behind them.  _SHIT!_   She struggled against him, her sobs nearly hysterical now.  “Belle, It’s ok, look at me,” he said in a soothing tone he didn’t know he was capable of making.

            “Out, Rush, you…have to get me…out,” she panted.  “Can’t let her…have to get…out.  Please!  Don’t let…don’t let her lock me up again.”

            She beat her small hands against his chest and he was forced to take the phone from her, slipping it into his pocket before she dropped it and damaged it beyond repair, wondering who had locked her away and why she was so terrified of it happening again.  Another mystery about his little assistant he’d need to solve, but that would have to wait.  Right now he needed to restore some semblance of calm before she hurt herself, or him.  She was stronger than she looked.

            “Belle, shh, listen to me.  Take a deep breath,” he murmured, enclosing her within the circle of his arms and trapping her hands between them as he rubbed gently at her nape, his fingers digging into the knot of tension at the top of her spine.  “Deep breath.  Can you do that for me?”

            She drew in a shuddering breath, her entire body trembling violently, her nails digging into his chest, but she stopped fighting to get away from him.  She was so tense, her muscles seized, she felt like a marble statue instead of the soft woman he knew her to be.  Finally, after years of yearning to have her in his embrace and he couldn’t even take the time to enjoy it.  What had happened to this precious woman to have her reduced to utter panic and desperation? Who had done this to her?

            “Nothing is going to harm you, Belle.  I won’t let anything hurt you,” he crooned, his lips brushing against her temple in a soft caress.  “Think wide open spaces.  Remember the lounge on Icarus?  You’d sit in front of the window and stare out at the horizon…big and open…the panoramic view seemed to go on forever…” He knew he was mumbling nonsense, but after a while she didn’t seem quite so tense.  His knuckles skimmed over each nub of her spine in a light circular motion, moving on to the next, one after another and then moving back up to start again.  “Did you ever go to the beach with your friends when you first came to California?  The wide open space, the endless blue of the Pacific…”

            “Didn’t have any,” she whispered, pressing her face into the crook of his neck where it met his shoulder.

            “California has beaches everywhere, Belle,” he said, a smile in his voice.  It died quickly in this throat at her next murmured response.

            “Friends...didn’t have any.  You were the first person I allowed myself get close to,” she admitted, realizing too late she’d left herself open for ridicule should he be inclined.

            “Oh, Belle,” he groaned,   “I—“ 

            The radio crackled and he hurriedly reached for it.  “Dr. Rush, we’ve encountered a problem,” Dr. Park said tentatively.  She was all too familiar with his volatile temper, having worked on his team for the last six months and she knew he wouldn’t take well to the news.

            “What problem?  We need to get Belle out of here now,” he growled into the radio.  Belle was still a mess and the distraction of soft words and gentle touches was fading back into her previous state with the interruption.  “Fix it.”

            “I’m sorry, Dr. Rush, we’re doing what we can.  The system has a fail-safe to prevent tampering with the reset.  The door will remain open for only a few moments before it automatically seals, giving you only a limited time to get out.  We would have to remove the node, wait an estimated time and then replace it.  However, since you’ve already reset it from the panel in the corridor, it shouldn’t be a problem to reinstall it on this side and have it restart properly.”

            “How much time?”

            “Half an hour?” she asked, making it into more of a question.

            “You’re asking me?  Last I checked, there isn’t a console in here, Dr. Park.  Perhaps you could pull Brody and Volker from the hallway, and their arduous task of standing about, and see if they might assist you!” he hissed, clicking the radio off and replacing it in his pocket.  “Bloody imbeciles.”

            A violent tremor shook her petite frame and Rush pulled her closer.  “It’s ok…it’s ok…they’ll get us out,” he assured her with a confidence he didn’t at all feel.

            “Rush,” she whimpered against his chest.  “We have to get out.  I can’t be locked up again.  I can’t!  You have to do some--”

            She struggled, she fought, she clawed, trying to free herself from him to pound on the door.  Surely someone would hear her, someone would let her out.  The walls felt as though they were closing in on her, pressing ever closer, robbing her of air and threatening to crush her until she was nothing but dust.  Being behind a locked door brought all her memories screaming to the forefront of her mind, memories she’d tried to bury years ago of being Regina’s prisoner, first in the tower of her castle and then in the basement asylum.  She couldn’t go through that again.  She couldn’t stand to be locked away in the dark and cold with no chance for escape.

            Rush could hear Park and the others already starting to work on removing the node from its enclosure.  If she could just hold on for a little longer.  She needed another distraction, but he didn’t think the efforts he’d tried previously would work again.  She was too far gone into her state of panic to listen to anything he might say to comfort her.  So he did the only thing he could think of that might shock her enough to regain some sense of self and control.  He kissed her.

            Belle froze in surprise, her lips parted on a gasp at the first brush of his lips against hers.  His strong hands exerted gentle pressure as they rose to cradle her face, holding her in place as his lips slid tenderly over hers, slanting slightly to keep his nose from bumping hers.  Warmth flooded through her, chasing away the icy coldness that had gripped her.  And it was over far too quickly, not even giving her a chance to respond before he was pulling away to gaze down at her in the dim light.

            “Belle…” he whispered, his warm breath fanning against her lips as he rested his brow to hers.  “Breathe for me.”

            She drew in a deep shuddering breath, holding his gaze, filling her lungs with much needed air and slowly she felt the panic begin to subside.  He was her comfort, her solace, her strength.  With him, there was a deep burning need within her to trust…something she hadn’t felt in more years than she could count.  For four years, he’d slowly pushed her to follow her academic dreams, to reinvent herself and leave her past behind, to start fresh and have another chance at happiness.  She’d stood beside him and helped him cope with the loss of his wife, supporting him without hesitation when he’d joined the project that had led them here.  She _did_ trust him, but not completely.  Yet, now…now she felt herself longing to trust him with that part of her she kept hidden from the world, the part of her she’d buried away to prevent herself from ever knowing pain and heartbreak again.

            “Good girl,” he breathed, sharing his air with her, never having felt closer to her.  “Deep breaths…calm, even breaths.  Nothing can hurt you, Belle.  I’m here.”  His hands slipped away from her face, trailing along her smooth skin to rest on her shoulders, his thumbs drawing back and forth over her rapidly beating pulse points in her neck.

            He held her, continuing to whisper softly…utter nonsense, really, but she wasn’t paying attention to his words anyway, concentrating more on the sound of his voice…until the last of her tension drained away, leaving her soft curves pliant and yielding where his lean lines pressed into her.  She withdrew her sharp nails from his chest, smoothing over the area she’d damaged with a soft touch and he sighed in relief to feel her relax into his embrace rather than fight against him.  No longer did he represent the specter of her past, but rather another chance, the first threads of hope and faith in a brighter future.

            “Nicholas…”  It was uttered so softly, he might have missed it if he hadn’t been staring so avidly at her mouth, her soft pink lips holding his rapt attention.  That one word, his name, spoken with reverence, longing and so much need nearly shattered the firm control he exerted over his baser instincts.  He’d wanted her for so long, to have her in his arms, to press his lips to her creamy flesh, but he couldn’t take advantage of her lapse into hysteria to sate his own cravings.   Her hand slid up along his chest, her thumb brushing back and forth against the hollow of his throat and he shivered, the pleasure of her innocent touch sending fire rapidly spreading through his body.

            Her fingers curled in the ends of his hair, tugging gently, coaxing him to bring his lips back to hers once more.  She was wrapped in a cocoon of warmth, his body blanketing her against the door and she wanted more… _needed_ more…and he was helpless to resist.  His lips barely brushed against hers, the touch feather light, but it left her feeling as if she’d run for miles, butterflies the size of condors taking flight in her belly and leaving her breathless with anticipation.

            Rush’s head jerked up, his hands falling away from her as the door whooshed open and he was faced with the brighter light of the corridor.  Cool air rushed in to greet them, helping to clear the haze of desire that had robbed him of his good sense.  Belle sagged against him in relief as TJ and Park reached in to her, pulling her forward quickly to assure themselves that she was alright.

            He glared at Brody and Volker as Young stepped between them.  “You turned your radio off,” the colonel accused in a mild tone, seemingly amused that the brilliant doctor had somehow locked himself in a maintenance corridor.

            “Yes, well, I had more pressing issues that required my full attention.”  He turned to Park, brows raised.  “The door remains open so I’m going to assume you were able to override the failsafe.”

            “Yes, Dr. Rush,” she said as TJ led Belle away to the infirmary to check her out, Belle protesting loudly.  “Once we restarted the node I was able to go into the ship’s computer and enter the commands to prevent this from happening again.”

            He sent Park, Brody and Volker back to the control room with the assurance that he’d join them after he’d changed out of the military uniform he’d worn down to the planet, leaving him alone in the corridor with Young.

            “I didn’t know Miss French was claustrophobic,” Young said, limping beside Rush as they headed in the direction of the infirmary.

            “There are a lot of things you don’t know about her.”  There were still things _he_ didn’t know, but he wasn’t about to tell the Colonel.   “Not everything is written in her personnel file,” he murmured acidly, wishing the man would take himself off elsewhere.  He wanted to get to Belle and assure himself she was alright.

            “The situation on board this ship is tenuous at best, Rush.”

            “Just what are you implying, Colonel?” he snapped, stopping to glare at the man.

            Young smiled, a wry twisting of his lips.  “I’m not implying anything.  I’m simply saying this is not the place for romantic entanglements.”

            Rush’s eyes narrowed to dangerous slits, heat rising in his already sunburned face to stain it a vivid crimson.  “Whatever _entanglements_ may or may not develop between members of this crew are none of your concern, Colonel Young.  There are civilians on this ship that are not accountable to your military rules of conduct.  More so those involving me _or_ my assistant.  Her conduct has always been above reproach and will remain so.”

            “It’s not her I’m worried about.”

            Rush scoffed, casting him a contemptuous glare and turned on his heel, stalking off to find Belle and wishing the colonel to perdition.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thank you all who have jumped on my Rushbelle bandwagon. I hope I haven’t disappointed anyone thus far. I just love writing this! Next chapter, Rush has a meltdown and Belle makes things all better. Lol. Hope to see you next week!


	4. Darkness

 

            Rush met very few crew members in the corridors as he made his way to the infirmary.  Those he did, see took one look at his sullen and angry expression and did their best to escape his notice.  Not that he noticed, lost to his own thoughts as he was.  _What was I bloody well thinking?_ he thought, groaning inwardly.  He’d kissed her… _kissed her!!!..._ in a moment of insanity.  He could tell himself, all he wanted, that he’d done it to help her, to quell the panic and abject fear rising within her, but he couldn’t quite convince himself it was true.  He’d _wanted_ to kiss her, more than anything he’d wanted in a long time and he had completely taken advantage of the situation…of her.  And the worst of it was that he wanted more, that one brief taste of her lips not enough to douse the fire in his blood.

            It wasn’t enough that he’d stranded her here on Destiny, put her life in peril at his whim.  He hated to admit it, but the colonel was right.  If he hadn’t wanted to dial Earth for fear of the explosion transmitting through the wormhole, he could have dialed elsewhere.  There were many gates accessible to them, any which would have offered them relative safety.  No, in his insane quest to unlock the ninth chevron address, he’d put her in danger…put them _all_ in danger.  He was a selfish bastard, would be the first to admit it, yet Belle had never turned her back on him.  At his insistence, she’d embarked upon a very lucrative career, but he knew she didn’t need the money.  So why had she stayed?  He snorted, knowing it wasn’t his charming personality that kept her chained to his side.  Was it the joy she found in her work…or something else?

            _”Don’t let her lock me up again!”_   Belle’s words reverberated inside his head, making the pressure behind his eyes throb anew.  Who was _her_?  What had happened to his little assistant before she’d come to California that would leave her in such a state of panic?  She was always so reluctant to share anything that had to do with her past, locking it away in a hidden vault in her mind.  And after four years of having her as his colleague, she’d just hours ago told him about her former love and his loss.  Well, now that she’d begun to open herself up, he’d be damned if he’d let her close herself off again.  If it wasn’t too late, if he hadn’t broken something between them by kissing her.

            He was still glowering fiercely as he strode into the infirmary to find Belle arguing with TJ as the medic removed a blood pressure cuff from her arm. 

            “I’m fine, TJ,” Belle said rubbing her arm to restore circulation where the cuff had been.  “It’s not like this is the first time this has happened.”  She looked up at Rush as he came to stand beside the gurney she sat upon.  “Rush, tell her I’m fine.”

            Rush crossed his arms over his chest and focused his attention on TJ.  “How is she, really?”

            “Rush!” Belle hissed, seeing she would get no help from that quarter.  “You’re supposed to be on _my_ side,” she murmured sulkily.

            His eyes warmed as they regarded her closely.  “I am.  That’s why you’re going to sit still and allow TJ to care for you.”

            Belle rolled her eyes, but held her tongue.  For all his surly and gruff exterior, she knew he cared for her in his own way.

            TJ continued her examination, frowning at the bruise purpling on Belle’s temple.  “Her blood pressure is slightly elevated, but nothing alarming.  How long have you had this?” she asked Belle, skimming her fingers over the woman’s temple.

            Belle jerked away, flinching from the pressure exerted on the wound.  “It’s nothing.  I got hit with one of the packs as we came on board.”

            TJ frowned, concerned for her friend.  “Any dizziness, blurred vision, nausea?”

            Belle shook her head, her cerulean eyes shooting daggers at Rush for his lack of assistance.  “No, nothing.”

            “When was the last time you slept…or even ate, for that matter?” the medic asked, knowing sleep had been scarce among the crew since they’d landed on the Ancient ship.  And Rush’s assistant wasn’t known to sleep much when she was bogged down with work.  She pressed a small cup of water into Belle’s hands.  “Here sip this.”

            Belle shrugged, doing as she was bid and sipping the water, relieved by the cool liquid sliding down her throat.  “I dunno.  I’ve been busy,” she supplied lamely.

            “When, Belle?” Rush asked.

            Belle regarded him through narrowed eyes, a bit hurt that he wasn’t taking her side.  She didn’t need a checkup when she was perfectly fine.  “The day after you left for Earth to fetch Eli,” she answered, raising her chin defiantly and daring him to scold her when he himself was just as sleep deprived as she was.

            TJ shook her head in exasperation.  “I won’t keep you here in the infirmary overnight, Belle, but you’ve got to get some sleep…at least eight hours.  Now that we’re here, with limited rations and no idea of when we’ll be getting any supplies, you’ve got to take better care of yourself.”

            Belle brightened significantly.  “I will, TJ. Thank you,” she said, hopping down from the gurney.

            It was then the medic turned her attention to Rush.  “Your turn,” she said, waving a hand at the seat Belle had just vacated in a gesture for him to sit so she could examine him.

            Rush uncrossed his arms, his brow knitting into a frown.  “What?  No, no, that’s not necessary, Lieutenant,” he protested.

            “Oh, no, doctor man, if I had to submit, then so do you,” Belle said, grabbing his arm and pulling him forward.  He was so surprised, he allowed her to do so before he could think of an excuse as to why he should resist.

            “It won’t take long, Dr. Rush,” TJ said, hiding a grin as she helped Belle tug the flak jacket off his shoulders, leaving him in his t-shirt.  “Have you been drinking lots of water since you returned from the planet?” she asked, pressing a cup of water into his hands.

            He nodded around the cup.

            Belle brushed the hair away from his brow, tucking a long strand behind his ear as TJ wrapped the blood pressure cuff around his bicep.  “Do you happen to have anything for the sunburn, TJ?” she asked, frowning worriedly at the reddened flesh of Rush’s face and hands.

            “Blood pressure’s normal, though he seems to be slightly dehydrated,” TJ said, refilling his cup.  “Just try to drink as much as you can.  I know it’s going to be difficult with the rationing, but we don’t want you falling ill.  Very few supplies made it through the gate and I have to save them for emergencies, otherwise I’d hook you up to a bag of saline solution.”

            Rush arched a condescending brow at the medic.  “I assure you I’ll be fine.”

            TJ rolled her eyes, all too familiar with the pair’s stubbornness.  Sometimes she wondered how he and Belle got any work done at all without killing each other, both known to defend their arguments vehemently.  She reached into her pack and pulled out several packets of aloe gel and handed them to Belle.  “This should help with the burns.  Do you think you could apply the gel while I go check on Dr. Franklin?”

            Belle smirked at her friend, relishing the idea of smearing the gel all over Rush’s burned face, making him sit still so she could care for him without his usual protests.  “Oh, I think we can manage.”

            Rush eyed her warily as she ripped the packet open with her teeth and squeezed the cooling gel onto her fingertips.  His lips parted on a sharp intake of breath as she stepped between his parted legs where they hung over the side of the gurney.  She smiled shyly as she pressed her fingers to his brow and slowly began to work the gel into his irritated skin.  A rosy blush rose in her neck to settle in the apples of her cheeks and he had to wonder if she was experiencing the same rush of heat through his lower extremities as he was at her close proximity, her gentle touch.  He fisted his hands and held them at his sides, forcing back the urge to curve them over her hips and draw her closer.

            “I should have packed sunscreen, I suppose,” she teased, trailing her fingers over the bridge of his nose.

            His lips turned up in a faint smile.  “Even the ever-prepared Miss French can’t think of _everything_ ,” he murmured softly.  His eyes were drawn to her mouth as she slipped another of the small packets between her teeth and tore it open.  They closed as he bit down on the inside of his lip as she cradled his face in her hands and smoothed her thumbs languorously over his cheeks, the softness of her fingertips contrasting delightfully with the stubble on his jaw.

            “Shocking, isn’t it,” she agreed.  “Who would’ve thought we’d need sunscreen, eh?”

            “Are you angry with me?” he blurted out, unable to reign in his wayward tongue before it loosed the question foremost in his mind. 

She opened another packet of the gel and went to work on his irritated hands, a curious smile on her lips.  “Why would I be angry with you?  I understand why you didn’t want me to accompany you to the planet.  I didn’t like it, but—“

“You know that’s not what I’m talking about,” he said, cutting her off.  “I took unfair advantage of you back there in the maintenance corridor and you have every right to be furious with me.”

Belle cursed inwardly as she felt her face flame.  She turned away from him and wiped the gel from her hands on a cloth.  “Come on, Rush, let’s get out of here.”  She was thankful when he followed, falling into step with her as she took the direction that would lead them to their new quarters.  “I’m not angry,” she said finally as they passed off the sealed door that led into the dome room.  “You were only trying to help me.  It’s what friends do, Rush.”

Rush felt his gut twist and churn in disgust.  Of course she would think he’d only done it to surprise her, to shock her out of her panic because it was something unexpected coming from him.  Did she really think that he couldn’t want her as more than a friend?  And the way she was fidgeting nervously, her fingers twisting themselves into knots, he knew it wasn’t the right time to broach the subject.

“Of course,” he mumbled dryly, nodding.  He let the matter drop and she relaxed, sighing heavily.  “So, where are we going?” he asked, trying to map the route she’d taken in the back of his mind for future reference.

“To our quarters,” she replied brightly.  “They’re away from the rest of the crew quarters and I can only surmise they were set aside for the ship’s officers.  Since we’re the last to choose our staterooms, I suppose we can benefit from what I was able to secure for us.  Young is going to want to remain close to his people and I know you like your privacy, so I thought these would be perfect for us…and I’m rambling again, aren’t I?”

Rush chuckled softly.  “You always ramble when you’re tired,” he said, following her down the dimly lit corridor until she stopped before a door and palmed the lock.

He had to admit she had chosen well, the space she’d claimed as his more than adequate.  It was much larger than the other quarters on the starboard side of the ship and the relative privacy they offered would suit rather well. 

Belle left him to explore the chamber and plopped down on the end of the bed before her legs gave out from beneath her in her exhaustion.  “Toiletries in your kit on the dresser, clothes in the top right hand drawer…oh,” she said, biting down on a huge yawn.  “Your laptop is there on the table and there are extra notepads and pencils in the nightstand on the left side of the bed.”

He moved to the dresser and found himself marveling at her ingenuity.  “Clothes? How—“

Her blush returned with a vengeance.  “I may have…um…raided your room at Icarus.  I mean, really…we didn’t know this was going to happen, but I wanted to be prepared…um…just in case?”  Her lips parted on a soft silent gasp as he bombarded her senses with the force of his smile, a true smile instead of the condescending quirk of his lips he usually wore.

“I’m clearly not paying you enough.  This is grand, Belle, truly,” he said sincerely, feeling his heart flutter a bit as she returned his smile with one of her own.  “Are there any other discoveries you’d like to share?”

She couldn’t hide the yawn that assailed her this time and it was a moment before she could speak again.  “There’s a bathing chamber at the end of the corridor.  Toilets, a few basins with spigots that should give us water once the tanks are filled…should we ever find a planet to restore our water supply…and there are some questionable looking showers, but I haven’t had time to test them.”  She yawned again and stretched her arms over her head to release some of the tension that had built up in her shoulders.  “Oh, and my quarters are just across the hall, in case you were wondering.”

He sat down beside her on the foot of the bed and reached to pull his boots off.  “Stellar job, as usual.  Seems you kept yourself busy while I was away.”

“Mmhm,” she murmured sleepily, fighting to keep her eyes open.

“There’s still much we have to do.  I want to check the database thoroughly and learn as much as I can as fast as I can to…” his voice trailed away as he felt her head come to rest against his shoulder, a soft snuffling sound falling from her parted lips.  A puzzled frown overtook his features as he turned to look down at her dark head.  He brushed the soft curls away that had escaped her ever present bun and sighed.  Her exhaustion and the stress she’d been under since they’d arrived had been more than she could bear and her body had finally forced her into slumber.

Rush reached behind him and yanked the coverlet aside, revealing the smooth sheets beneath before lifting her slight frame in his arms and moving her to lie against the pillows.  She didn’t utter a sound as he removed her boots and set them on the floor beside the bed so she could easily find them when she woke.  He pulled the coverlet over her, tucking her in comfortably.  It was then he found himself unable to resist the lure to pull the pins from her hair.  He’d never seen it down in all the time he’d known her and he thought it odd that he’d never wondered before. 

Belle rolled over onto her side, pressing her face into the pillow with a dreamy sigh and he realized she’d given him the perfect opportunity to give in to his desire.  Before he could change his mind and convince himself this was an invasion of her personal space, he reached out and tugged the pins from her hair, setting them on the nightstand for her to find when she woke.  He uncoiled the tight knot and a slow smile formed on his lips as it unfurled in his rough hands, long streaming curls of chestnut with a hint of auburn so soft it felt like silk.

“Oh, Miss French, you _have_ been hiding, haven’t you?” he murmured as he spread her locks out over the pillow and carded his fingers along her scalp with gentle pressure.  She smiled in her sleep, pleasure finding her even in the arms of Morpheus.  Changing his mind, he retrieved the pins from the nightstand and rose from the bed to change his clothes.  He didn’t know if he had the strength to move her to her own room without waking her and he didn’t have to heart to disturb her.  On the other hand, he in no way trusted himself to share a bed with the little temptress, especially not now when he knew that her sweet lips tasted like ambrosia.  No, it was safer if he returned to the control interface room and got back to work.  He slipped the pins into the pocket of his jeans, casting one last longing glance of Belle resting peacefully in his bed.  He couldn’t wait to see her reaction when she found no way to continue with her disguise.

X*X*X*X*X

Rush felt his tongue stick to the roof of his mouth as Belle walked into the control interface room, her eyes flashing with mild irritation and her glorious curls tumbling in sleek waves loose and free about her shoulders.  It had been nearly impossible to hide her beauty behind glasses and a severe hairstyle, but he’d never imagined letting her hair down could make such a difference.  She cocked a brow at him and Eli where they stood frozen in stunned admiration.

“Wow, Belle, I…um…hardly recognized you,” the boy stammered, grinning sheepishly.  “You look—“

Rush cut his eyes over at Eli, his lips curling up in a scowl.  “Eli, don’t you have work to do?  If not, I’m certain I can find something for you to do.”

Eli ducked his head, mumbling apologies and scurried over to his own console to begin running a diagnostic on the weapons system as Rush had tasked him before Belle had made her appearance, sneaking glances at her from beneath his dark lashes.

            Rush swallowed reflexively as she made her way across the room to stand at his side, a cup of steaming instant coffee in her hand.  He reached for the cup and she smacked his hand gently, mindful of his sunburned flesh, yet making her displeasure with him clear.  “You are a sneaky, devious bastard,” she hissed in a deceptively soft tone.

            He snorted a short laugh and reached for the cup again.  And again she held it just out of his reach.  “So, Miss French,” he said, reverting to the formal address he knew she despised.  “You’ve come to taunt me with a cup of my favorite brew to show me how upset you are with me?” he asked sternly, the hidden smile at the corner of his lips belying the heat in his question.

            Belle tilted her head to the side and regarded him silently for a moment, gnawing thoughtfully on her lower lip.  “Of course not, Dr. Rush,” she said with false innocence.  “It’s merely incentive to assure me I get what I want,” she teased, stepping closer so the rich tantalizing aroma of one hundred percent Columbian assailed his nose.

            His lips parted on a sigh as he took in the devilish mischief in her cerulean gaze.  At the moment, he couldn’t have cared less about the coffee.  She was standing too close, invading his personal space…something that seemed to be becoming a habit between them…and the lure of delving his hands into her glossy chestnut locks and plundering her mouth was his greatest desire.  “And…ah…just what is it you want, Miss French?” he asked, his voice a ragged whisper.  He cleared his throat, inwardly cursing the tell that so readily pronounced his discomfort.

            Her perfectly arched brow rose just a notch higher as her grin widened.  “My hairpins, if you please,” she said, holding out her hand.

            He decided two could play her game and he turned back the console.  “Why would you think I have them?  Perhaps they fell out as you slept.”

            “If that were the case, they would have easily been found when I searched for them.  They aren’t anywhere in your room.  And that’s another thing,” she retorted, taking a small sip of his coffee.  She hid the smile threatening at her lips as his head jerked up, his eyes zeroing in on her action, nearly salivating for the aromatic beverage.  “You could have sent me off to my own quarters last night.  I didn’t mean to chase you from your bed.  Did you sleep at all?”

            Warmth spread throughout his chest at her obvious concern for him and he motioned for her to turn around and give him her back.  When she eyed him warily and protested, he forcibly turned her, his deft fingertips gathering the hair at her temples and carefully pulled it back, pinning it at her crown and leaving the remainder of her locks to hang loose about her shoulders.  His actions so surprised her, she absently released the cup into his grip as he reached for it.

            He closed his eyes as he savored the rich brew against his palate. “You didn’t chase me from my bed, Belle.  I had work to do and saw no reason to disturb your sleep to move you,” he said, moving aside so she could scoot in beside him to study the pages of data on his screen.  He ignored Eli as the boy coughed.  “Besides, you sleep like the dead.”

            Belle snorted. “That one time doesn’t count!”

            He gaped at her incredulously.  “You slept through an entire dissertation on the benefits the stargate program could make on—“

            “Rush!”

            “You were snoring,” he snarked, daring her to argue.

            Belle’s face flamed, knowing if she didn’t change the subject, he’d tease her mercilessly the rest of the day.  “Fine,” she acquiesced, focusing on the console.  “What are we doing about unlocking the core systems?  Have you had any luck thus far?”

            “No, unfortunately.”

            “Why is power being diverted to the weapons system?” she asked, frowning down at the screen before entering several keystrokes on the keyboard to bring the system into sharper focus for her perusal.  “Eli, are you doing that?”

            “No, I’m cataloguing what systems we have available as opposed to those that are damaged so we know where we stand if they’re needed…not that I’m saying they’re going to be needed, mind you…but,” Eli said, flipping through his own data. 

            “Well someone is messing around where they have no business.  Eli, find whoever it is and have them shut down,” Rush growled, draining his cup and setting it aside.  _More of Young’s meddling into the ship’s systems, no doubt_ , he thought bitterly.  _The man needs to keep his nose out of the scientific aspect of this mission and leave me and my team alone to work instead of complicating matters._

Belle laid a comforting hand on his arm and he shook himself out of his dark thoughts.  “What is it?”

            “Nothing,” he snapped.  “Let’s just get back to work, shall we?”

X*X*X*X*X

            Rush sipped from his cup of water and grimaced as he moved his hand to rub at the ache in his temple.  The pain was growing steadily worse and it was distracting him from his work, forcing his concentration down the proverbial toilet.  Destiny’s power reserves were crap and only getting worse.  Soon the reserves would be all but gone and then their already tenuous situation would grow dire.  What was worse was that nothing he did seemed to improve it, no matter how he tried to divert it…it just wasn’t there.  Without access to the core systems…he didn’t want to contemplate the repercussions.

            His long wiry fingers moved from his temple to the knot of tension at the top of his spine, rubbing absently.  It was a pointless exercise as nothing seemed to ease his pain.  He couldn’t have been in a fouler mood.  The precious few packets of instant coffee had run out days ago, the small bottle of Advil Belle had stashed away was dwindling as he had taken to eating them at the same rate Belle gobbled down Jolly Ranchers and the colonel was on his last nerve.  He’d blown off the morning meeting to discuss their supplies and the need to replenish them.  He didn’t think he’d be welcome even if he had chosen to attend.  The consensus of the crew was that they were happiest if the doctor were far removed from them.  They still resented him for opening the gate onto Destiny instead of Earth.  Not that he gave a damn.  Belle’s opinion of him was the only one that mattered to him.

            Rush tossed his notepad against the console and stormed out of the control interface room, his visage dark and dangerous.  He found Dr. Park in one of the access rooms, the panel lit up before her.  “I turned these systems off for a reason,” he growled, pointing a finger at her.

            “Dr. Rush, Colonel Young asked—“

            “I don’t give a bloody damn.  They need to stay off!”  He waited until she’d dialed back the power and switched the system off before leaving her there.  He stalked down the corridor to the mess, wondering irritably if his little assistant might be there.  He didn’t relish having to choke down a bowl of the yellow milky protein porridge they were forced to consume twice a day, but he knew Belle would scold and cajole him unless he ate and it was less time consuming to forego her nagging.

            Rush entered the mess and his mood plummeted further.  Belle was sitting at a table surrounded by Lt. Scott, Greer, Eli and Chloe, seemingly enjoying the conversation with her friends.  He ground his teeth together, 2surprised they didn’t disintegrate into chalk.  She should have been working with him this morning, and instead she was having a grand old time with the mouth-breathers she’d claimed as her friends.  He beat back the green scaly jealous beast clawing at his chest and found a seat at the table with only one occupant, Camille.  He never lifted his head as Becker set a bowl of the porridge before him.  He could feel her curious gaze, yet he refused to give her the courtesy of acknowledging her.  He knew it was petty and spiteful, but the jealous monster gnawing on his good sense refused to allow him to do anything but sulk and lick his wounds in silence.  And as if things couldn’t get worse, Young limped over and took the seat across from him, blocking his furtive glances at Belle beneath his lashes.  _Bloody fucking wonderful!_

            “I ordered you here twenty minutes ago,” Young said matter-of-factly as he propped his elbows on the table.

            Rush continued to eat his rations, making the man wait.  “I’ve been working,” he said, wondering how he was able to keep a civil tone.  “Throughout the night, actually.  Trying to find out why our power reserves are so low.  I’m quite concerned and so should you be.”

            Young frowned.  “Ok, how bad is it?”

            Rush sighed in frustration as he swirled the spoon around idly in his bowl.  “I haven’t been able to access any of the main systems yet, so I don’t know,” he snapped.

            “Nicholas, you look exhausted.  Maybe you should take a break,” Camille said, casting him a concerned look.

            “Get the information we need and make some informed decisions, and we report…” Young rattled on, his voice trailing off as a hollow rattling reverberated through the mess hall and the lights began to flicker. 

            Rush dropped his spoon with a loud clanging into his bowl and clasped his hands before his tightly compressed lips, desperately trying to suppress the urge to yell.  Finally he pointed both of his index fingers at the colonel.  “Could you please stop people running around activating every bloody system they can get their hands on?”

            Young nodded.  “I will.”

            Rush picked up his bowl and let it drop back loudly against the table.  “That was delicious,” he snarked, sarcasm heavy in his tone.  “Thank you very much.”  He rose from the table, his eyes briefly meeting Belle’s in a heated glance before he stalked out of the mess.

X*X*X*X*X

            “Eli, I said no!” Belle insisted, stepping around her friend and continuing down the corridor.

            “Aw, come on, Belle,” the young genius pleaded, fiddling with the Kino remote and positioning the sphere in her line of sight.  “I just need you to say something about yourself.  I’m compiling this footage for my documentary project.  If you don’t record anything, they won’t know who you are.”

            “Who is _they_ , Eli?” she asked, shoving the Kino away and arching a brow at him.

            “ _They_ is whoever might find the finished product,” he said with a bright smile, clearly excited with his new project.  “Please? You’ll set a good example and encourage others to join in.”

            A pained expression settled on her features as she glanced skeptically at the Kino.  She’d made avoiding cameras and any forms of media into an art form and here Eli wanted her to give an interview.  “Eli…”

            “Please!”

            “FINE!!!” she snapped, fighting against the anxiety pooling in her chest.  “My name is Belle, I’m twenty nine years old and I’m assistant to Dr. Nicholas Rush.  I postponed work on my doctorate in astrophysics so I could join the Icarus project and I have an unhealthy obsession with hard fruity candies, Jolly Ranchers in particular,” she said hurriedly and then cast Eli a warning glare before she stepped out of range of the device. 

            “That’s it?” Eli asked, a crestfallen expression settling on his features. 

            “Eli,” Belle growled in frustration as he centered the Kino directly before her.  She cast a narrow eyed glare at the offending sphere.  “This is not for a dating service.  What I’ve told you is more than enough.”  She didn’t want to disappoint the boy, but she was not going to spill all her secrets to a floating camera.  Once more she stepped around the Kino and started off down the corridor.

Chloe chuckled softly as she fell into step beside her.  “I see he roped you into his little project, too, huh?”

“Yes, unfortunately.  I find it rather difficult to deny a man when he’s practically begging on his knees,” she retorted dryly, making sure her voice was loud enough to carry.

“Hey!” the boy protested, following behind his two favorite ladies, uncaring of where they were leading him.

“Eli,” Chloe asked in a sweet cajoling tone.  “Do you think you could show me how to use that shower you were talking about at the meeting this morning?”

“You haven’t tried it yet?” Belle asked, surprised.  The senator’s daughter always looked so neat and well-groomed, she couldn’t see how she’d managed without showering thus far.  Chloe shook her head.  “You really must.  It’s an experience you don’t want to miss.”

“It doesn’t shoot some weird goop at you, does it?” she asked warily.

Eli programmed the Kino to follow them and dove into the topic with gusto.  “No, it’s like a mist and it beads up on your skin…it’s really cool.  Not as in cool to the touch, just really awesome.  I haven’t analyzed the properties of the solution yet, but I think there might be some kind of cleaning solution mixed in with the water on a molecular level.”

“Would you mind showing me?” Chloe asked Eli, a hopeful expression on her lovely face.  Eli, as taken as he was with the young woman, jumped at the chance to offer his assistance.  “Will we see you later at dinner, Belle?”

“Oh, yeah, I’ll be around…if Rush doesn’t decide to make us work into the night again,” she said with a wry smile.

She waved them off and continued her trek to the control interface room, dragging her feet…literally…in no hurry to be confronted with Rush’s less than pleasant mood.  She cursed inwardly as she turned the corner and nearly collided with Colonel Young.  “Colonel, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s alright, Belle.  Where are you off to?” he asked conversationally, though Belle knew it was anything but.  It was more likely that he was fishing for information.

She shrugged noncommittally.  “Keeping busy, Colonel.  I’m on my way now to grab a Kino and inspect some of the unknown sections we haven’t been able to explore yet.  I’m hoping I can drag Riley away from his duties to accompany me now that Chloe has Eli occupied elsewhere and Scott and Greer are inspecting the shuttle to see if it’s flight worthy.”  He looked at her in surprise.  She cast him a secretive smile.  With her network of friends, there was very little that escaped her notice.  And she in turn kept Rush apprised of her vast intel.

“Belle!  I _have_ to show you this,” Riley said, approaching her from an alcove off the corridor.  “Do you have your phone on you, by any chance?”

“Yeah, I do,” she answered, pulling it from the back pocket of her jeans and handing it to her friend.

Volker stood next to a long flat plate protruding from the wall.  “You’re going to love this, Belle.  It’s the answer to a prayer.”

“What is it?” she asked curiously, standing next to Riley as he laid her phone on the metal plate and flipped a switch.  A low hum emitted from the device.

“Dr. Volker, just the person I wanted to see,” Young said, smiling brightly at the scientist.

Dale visibly paled.  “Uh-oh.”

“Dr. Rush needs help solving the power issues.  You’ve just been volunteered.”

Belle arched a brow at the colonel, knowing just how Rush would react to his least favorite team member offering his services.  “Colonel, that’s not necessary.  I’ll go.”

Young shook his head.  “No, Belle, you’ve been putting in more than your fair share with Rush.  You deserve a break.”

“But—“

“Volker’s really looking forward to it.  You wouldn’t want him to ignore a direct order, now would you?”

Belle pasted a falsely bright smile on her lips that in no way matched the murderous gleam in her eyes.  He was being spiteful and petty, wanting only to rile Rush more than he already was and between the lack of sleep and the stress he was under due to the problem he was trying to solve, she knew it wouldn’t end well for anyone involved.  Poor Dale.

She turned her back on him, silently seething and Riley pressed her now fully charged phone into her hands.  She gasped in surprise.  “That’s brilliant, Riley!  Do you think you could charge Rush’s laptop battery for me later?”

“Sure.  Just bring it to me when you have time, Belle.”  He waved a hand towards the plate.  “We’ve tweaked it to work with Earth’s technology.  For now we have to be careful not to leave them on the plate for too long or it fries the battery, but…not bad, huh?”

Young chuckled, relieved one of their problems had been solved, but it would have to wait for later.  “It’s great.”

Riley beamed under the Colonel’s praise.  “Isn’t it?”

“Turn it off,” Young said.

Riley’s face fell and Belle’s eyes narrowed on their commanding officer with displeasure.  “Why?” she asked.

“Well, Rush says we have power issues.”

“But we have all these things to recharge,” Riley sputtered in disappointment.

“I know, but as soon as he gives the go-ahead, you kids can go crazy.  For now, help me pass the word to stop pushing buttons,” he said, his tone brooking no objection.  With a nod, he limped off down the corridor, her angry gaze burning into his back.

Belle felt sorry for her friend.  He’d been so happy to have found something useful to do to break the monotony of monitoring the database on the gate room console.  She dug a strawberry Jolly Rancher from the pocket of her jeans and pressed it into his hand.  “Don’t worry, Riley, we can do it later.  In the meantime, you can come exploring with me.”

X*X*X*X*X

Rush tossed his notepad against the console and raked both hands through his hair, a soft string of curses falling from his thin lips as the ship rattled and groaned, the lights once more flickering on and off before resuming their dim glow.  He groaned as Volker tentatively stepped over the threshold of the control interface room.  _Just what I fucking need now!_

“Hey, heard you could use a helper,” Volker said, easing into the room.

“Well, you heard wrong,” Rush snapped irritably, rubbing at his temples and the unrelenting throbbing that plagued him.  His headache was steadily blossoming into a full blown migraine and his fellow scientist was only going to make it worse.

“Yeah, Young said not to take no for an answer,” he said, shifting his broken arm…still in a sling…uncomfortably.

Rush didn’t bother looking up from his console, grinding his teeth against the pain in his head.  “If he wanted to be helpful, he would have sent Belle or Eli instead.”

“Well, thank you for that, but Eli’s a kid, really and Belle’s just your assistant, and I’m an astrophysicist, so…” he said defensively.

Rush sighed wearily, leaning against the console and dropping his head into his hand.  “Mr. Volker, I neither need, nor want your help, alright?” he snapped, trying to maintain the thin thread of control he desperately clung to.

Volker winced.  “Look, he’s just going to drag me right back in here, and you know it.  Come on,” he cajoled.

Rush sneered, but he gave in…for the moment.  “Right, I’m concerned that Destiny is on the verge of losing power.  Look for yourself.”

Volker stepped up to the console Rush had planted himself before and made to look at the screen.  Rush flung out his arm, pointing to the console to his right.  The ginger-haired astrophysicist ducked his head sheepishly, a blush creeping up his neck at the silent reprimand.  “This ship’s been flying around for the better part of a million years.”

“Don’t you think I know that?!”

Volker studied the screen before him.  He was knowledgeable in Ancient, but not nearly as good as Park or Belle in his translations.  “So, I don’t understand why all of a sudden…”

Rush stared at the man contemptuously, his voice rising.  “Well, we showed up and started doing things, how about that?”

“Like what?”

 _Oh this one is as thick as a dead tree stump!!!_   “Dialing back to Earth, for one!” he snarled.

Volker snorted and cast his superior a condescending look.  “Come on, we had to try.”  Rush shot him a glare that should have fried him on the spot.  “Look out the window, man. We’re flying faster than the speed of light.  How close to the end of the rope can we be?”

“You’re obviously not capable of seeing the signs,” Rush hissed, his eyes narrowed menacingly.  He could have happily choked Young for sending the man in there just to bedevil him.

“Ok,” Volker said, maintaining his soft tone.  It was best to treat Rush like a wild beast when he got like this…approach with extreme caution!!  “Well, speaking of signs, when was the last time you slept?”

 _Seriously? I don’t get enough of this crap from Belle?_    “Look, if you know what you’re looking for, there are clear indications that power is being channeled into life support and away from…”

Volker did the equivalent of poking the beast with a sharp pointy stick, and interrupted Rush in the middle of his tirade.  “How can you know that?  We’re still completely locked out of the core systems.”

“OUT!!!” Rush bellowed, the color rising in his face as he slammed his hand down on the console, glowering at the man with all the pent-up rage he’d been suppressing for the past two days.

Volker paled, realizing his mistake…too little, too late…as it were.  “Okay, I’ll…forget I said anything.”

“NOW!!!”

Volker cowered behind his console.  “No, I’ll just work quietly.”

“Well, it’s too bloody late for that now, isn’t it?” Rush growled, his teeth bared and his eyes flared wide.  “I told him you’d be a waste of time!  A waste of time that we can ill afford!  If you can’t see the signs staring you in the face, then you’re no good to me!  GET OUT!!”

Belle passed Volker in the corridor, his jaw tightly set in anger as he left the control interface room.  Her brows drew low over her brow as she strode into the room, concerned when she saw the high state of agitation Rush was in.  “What the hell is going on in here?  I could hear you yelling all the way from the mess.”

Rush regarded her slyly, slowly turning his head to glare at her.  “Well, well,” he snarked acidly.  “So nice of you to take time out of your busy schedule to join me.”

Her lips parted on a stunned gasp.  “What?!” She ripped the radio from her waistband and thrust it out for him to see.  “I am always available to you, Rush.  You haven’t called for me once today.  What has gotten into you?”  She let her hand drop to her side, refastening the radio to her belt.  Regarding him closely, the manic glint in his eyes, the tight press of his lips and the lines of pain at the corners of his eyes, alerted her that something more was going on than she’d previously thought.  This outburst was more than lack of sleep or stress from his job.

He shook off her hand as she reached out and gently laid it on his forearm.  “You’re the one who complains when you’re not _assisting_ me, Miss French, yet you found it more important to dally with your soldier boys and Eli instead of being here,” he snarled, jabbing a finger at the console, “where you belong!”

“Dally?  Seriously, Rush?” she asked dryly…right before she smacked him in the shoulder.  “Have you taken leave of your bloody senses?!”

He rubbed at his shoulder, his sable eyes flashing with venom.  “No, Miss French, I happen to have full use of my faculties.  And instead of having you at my side to try to resolve this issue, Young sends Volker… _fucking Volker!..._ in here with his ineptitude.   Apparently,” he said, advancing on her, using the few inches he had on her to intimidate her.   “You don’t care about the mission any longer.  Perhaps I should have left you there in California.  If I had known you—“

“How dare you!?  I’d like to know how you think you would’ve gotten this far without me!” she yelled, her voice rising several octaves in her anger, her cheeks flushing crimson as she held her ground.  “I gave up my doctorate for you!  I left the _fucking planet_ for you, Rush.  If that doesn’t prove my dedication, I don’t know what will!  I’ve had to put up with your brooding silences, your temper tantrums and your rants…not to mention your insane demands.  I deserve your respect, you ass…not your contempt nor this irrational behavior directed towards me!”

His upper lip curled back over his teeth in a cold sneer.  “No one forced you to accept the position as my assistant.  If I remember correctly, you couldn’t pack fast enough.  You have no one to blame but yourself, Miss French.  So deal with it!  You’re stuck with me now.”

Belle poked him hard in his chest, relishing the small grunt of pain that issued from his parted lips.  “That’s right!  I _chose_ to join you on this project and unless you want me to make your life an absolute living hell, Rush, you’d better pull yourself together.  I will _not_ tolerate this from you!  I’ve already had to put up with far too many people underestimating me in the course of my life.  They took advantage with no regard for my feelings and I’ll be damned if I will let it happen again.”  With that, she turned on her heel, wanting to be as far away from him as possible in the limited confines of the ship.

“Just where the hell do you think you’re going?  This isn’t finished, Belle!  We have work to do!” he called after her.

“When you pull your head out of your ass, come find me!”

“Belle!  Belle, wait!”  But she was already gone.  His one ally on the whole ship, in _his_ whole universe and he’d just succeeded in pushing her away.  Rush slumped against the console and grabbed his head in both hands as his migraine worsened.  Now he had to come to grips that he’d hurt Belle.  He’d let his jealously and stress and a myriad of other emotions goad him into hurting her.  _FUCK!!_

The ship groaned with a hollow grinding sound and the lights flickered and died.  But this time they didn’t come back on as they had before.  Worse yet…Destiny dropped out of FTL.  “Perfect!”

X*X*X*X*X

Belle charged into the infirmary, still seething with blinding fury.  The observation deck had been occupied by several members of the crew and she hadn’t wanted her dismal mood to spoil anyone’s down time.  She didn’t feel like going to her quarters, afraid in the relative peace of her personal space she would break down in angry tears or worse…give in to the temper she normally kept hidden and break something she would later regret.  Perhaps if TJ weren’t too busy, talking to someone might help relieve some of her suppressed rage.  It was times like these that she missed Archie and Red.  She missed having someone to confide in.  As much as she valued the new friendships she’d established, she still found it hard to trust.  Now she felt as if she didn’t have a choice.  The desire to unburden herself had led her to the medic and she already felt a little better. 

She drew up short when she entered the room, finding more than a few of the beds occupied.  “TJ, what’s going on?” she asked, stepping to her side.

TJ looked up with a weary smile as she saw her friend.  “Hey, Belle, nothing to be alarmed about.  Just a few of the crew suffering from withdrawals…headaches, jitters, irritability.  Nothing I didn’t expect with the lack of coffee and tea on board,” she explained as she counted out tablets from the bottle of aspirin she held.  “What’s wrong; you look upset?”

“Rush,” she growled.  From her tone, she didn’t need to elaborate, that one word saying everything TJ needed to know.

TJ bit back a chuckle, knowing Belle wouldn’t appreciate her humor.  “Worse than usual?”

Belle followed the medic to a secluded corner where she’d set up a small space for herself while she was working and sat down in the chair provided.  “You could say that,” she murmured, toying with the thin strip of material she had tied about the end of her braid.

“You want to talk about it?”

Belle hesitated for only a moment, years of keeping things to herself sticking her tongue to the roof of her mouth.  “Usually his anger is directed at someone else…never at me.  He’s always shown me nothing but the utmost respect and for him to blow up at me when I was merely trying to help.  Guh!!! I’m so furious with him!!”

TJ’s brows disappeared into her hairline.  “He yelled at you?”

“Yes,” she admitted with a wry twist to her lips.  “Our arguments are usually very intense, but never like this.  I mean…I’ve seen him manic before, but I’m usually able to talk him through it.  He’d already run poor Dale out of the interface room.  I was just trying to ask him what was wrong.  I wanted to help him.”

TJ reached out and covered Belle’s hand with her own, her brows drawing together in a concerned frown.  “Belle, he didn’t—“

“Of course not!” Belle hissed, staring at the medic as if she’d lost her mind.  “At least not physically.  Rush isn’t the violent type.  He will defend himself, certainly if he has to, but he’s more prone to completely take a person apart with that acerbic wit of his.”

“And it usually doesn’t take much to set him off.  What was it this time?”

“He accused me of _dallying_ with Scott and Greer over breakfast instead of attending to my duties.  I didn’t linger in the mess any longer than usual and then I got right to work.  Granted, it was in another part of the ship instead of the control room, but I _was_ working,” she said defensively.  “It sort of spiraled from there.”

TJ took in the sheepish look on her friend’s face and her lips bloomed into a surprised smile.  “It sounds to me that perhaps he was upset more that you were seen with Scott and Greer rather than where you were working.”

“What?”

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was jealous.”

“Jealous?” Belle asked a mere second before she burst out laughing.  “TJ, you know he doesn’t feel that way about me.  I’ve been his assistant for four years.  I think I would’ve noticed if he felt something more than friendship.”

The blonde shrugged.  If Belle wasn’t able to see the signs so blatantly evident, she wasn’t sure she should try to convince her.  “You’re sure?  Rush treats you differently than everyone else.  He’s softer, more patient.  It could be that he cares for you and just hasn’t realized it yet.”

Belle waved a dismissive hand.  “No, I don’t think so.  When I met Rush, he’d just lost his wife.  He was angry all the time and the only way he felt he could cope with it was through his work.  I think the only reason he tolerated me then was due to the fact that I would work equally hard to help him succeed.  It took a long time to earn his trust and it just blossomed into a grudging friendship.”  She looked down at her hands clenched in her lap, remembering their early days when she felt as if she were walking on eggshells to keep from provoking his temper over the smallest matters.  “It’s hard not to lose faith when you’ve suffered a loss like that.  I’m just glad I could be there for him.”

TJ groaned inwardly, realizing Rush wasn’t the only one who had strong feelings in his relationship with Belle.  “Are you speaking from experience?”

Belle shrugged, catching her lip between her teeth to stop herself from spilling her guts about her life in Storybrooke.  She’d locked her past away and that’s where it would remain buried.  “I shouldn’t have yelled at him,” she said, filled with remorse for making a bad situation worse. 

“Four years is a long time, Belle.  If the two of you moved from a good working relationship into a friendship, it’s not so farfetched to think his feelings could have changed for you.”

“I—“  The lights flickered off and cast the room into darkness, the emergency lighting finally coming to life.  “Well, crap!” Belle said, sighing in irritation.

TJ groaned and rushed over to reassure several of her patients.  Belle remained where she was, imagining the temper tantrum Rush must be pitching in the control interface room at the loss of power.  She debated whether or not she should try to find him and see if she could help somehow, but decided against it.  Even though she felt guilty about giving in to her anger, she was still hurt that he’d taken out his frustrations on her.

“What do you think happened to the power?” the medic asked as she resumed her seat.  “And better yet, will Rush be able to fix it?”

“I don’t know,” Belle answered truthfully, her eyes straying to the door of the infirmary as she fought to remain seated.  She refused to run to Rush and offer her assistance after the way he’d yelled at her.  He could come to her when he’d calmed down.  “He’s been working the problem, but I don’t know if this is going to be something easily repaired.  There’s still so much we’re learning about the ship.”

Colonel Young’s voice was amplified as it came across both Belle’s and TJ’s radios simultaneously, interrupting their conversation.  “TJ we could use a medic in the gate room,” he said, his voice nearly drowned out by Rush yelling in the background.

“Was that Rush?” TJ asked Belle, but the woman had already dashed for the exit.  She sighed and grabbed her medical kit to follow, taking Belle’s swift exit as a yes.

X*X*X*X*X

Belle raced to the gate room, winding her way through the darkened corridors and praying she wouldn’t run into anyone in her haste.  Volker and Young were standing over a prone Rush, looking at one another as if wondering what to do.

She pushed Volker aside and dropped down next to Rush, her hands fluttering uselessly as she looked for wounds.  “What happened?  What did you do to him?” she accused, glaring at the two men over her shoulder.

“We didn’t do anything to him, Belle.  He was ranting…not an unusual occurrence,” Volker muttered under his breath. “…and he just collapsed.”

She dismissed them from her thoughts now that she was sure they hadn’t harmed him in any way and smoothed her hand over his brow.  “Rush, can you hear me?” she asked, leaning close to his ear, worry evident in her soft voice.  She should have trusted her instincts earlier, having known something was wrong, instead of losing her temper with the man.  “Rush, please…open your eyes.  I won’t even get mad if you yell at me again.”

TJ came in and knelt at his other side, pulling the necessary equipment from her bag to examine him.  “It’s alright, Belle,” she said soothingly, wrapping a blood pressure cuff about his bicep.

“What the hell is wrong with him, TJ?” the colonel asked.  “Did he have some kind of mental break?”

Belle flashed him an icy look.  “You don’t have to sound so bloody hopeful, Colonel,” she fairly snarled at the man.

TJ shook her head.  “No, it’s been happening all morning.  People are suffering caffeine and nicotine withdrawals.  Belle, how much coffee does he drink? Does he still smoke?” she asked, trying to remember clearly what little she knew about the scientist.

“He cut back on smoking once we joined the Icarus project and his trips back to Earth to buy more were limited, but he drinks more coffee than any one person should.  If I didn’t make him eat on a regular basis, he’d consume _nothing_ but coffee,” she admitted with a wry smirk.

TJ removed the cuff and stored it back in her bag.  “His blood pressure and heart rate are elevated, but not dangerously so.  When was the last time he slept?”

Belle snorted derisively.  “Rush, sleep?  Seriously?  The man thinks he’s a cyborg and therefore not required to sleep.  He’ll pass out over the console before he willingly takes himself off to bed..  It’s probably more than thirty six hours since the last time he slept.”

“I thought it was one of your jobs to make certain he did,” the colonel said dryly, leaning heavily on his crutch as he addressed Belle.

Belle gnashed her teeth together, not bothering to look at the smirking man.  She sat back on her heels, absently carding her fingers through Rush’s hair as she watched his face for any signs he might be returning to consciousness.  “Performing miracles is not in my job description.”

“What do you propose, TJ?” Young asked.  “We can’t just leave him in the gate room.”

“Between the stress, the withdrawals and the lack of sleep, he needs rest,” she said, packing up her kit.

He shook his head, mumbling,  “That man is a lot of work.”  He retrieved the radio from his belt.  “Sergeant Greer, could you please come to the gate room.  Dr. Rush requires assistance to his quarters.”

Greer snickered over the open channel, but otherwise held his comments.  “On my way, sir.”

“Belle, I need to check on my other patients.  I’ll come by later and check on him, ok?” she asked, rising to her feet.  Belle nodded, thankful for her friend.

Greer arrived shortly and took in the situation with a rather pleased smile.  He bent over the prone doctor and hoisted him over his shoulder.  With a grin, he turned his attention to Rush’s assistant and gestured towards the door of the gate room.  “Lead on, Miss Belle.”

Belle ignored the colonel as she led Greer out of the gate room and down the correct corridor that would lead them to Rush’s quarters.  “What are you smiling about, Ronald?” she asked, arching a brow in his direction.  “You don’t have to look so pleased by Dr. Rush’s misfortune.”

“I didn’t say a word,” he said with a chuckle.

She made a noise of displeasure at the back of her throat as she palmed the lock and preceded him into the room.  Greer dumped him unceremoniously on the bed and she smacked him in the shoulder.  “Not so rough!  I swear, Ronald, you don’t have a gentle bone in your body,” she scolded.

“Aw, he’ll be alright, Miss Belle.  You worry too much.”

She fussed over Rush, plumping the pillow beneath his head and assuring herself she’d made him as comfortable as possible before she turned to Greer.  “Be that as it may, he’s a human being…not a sack of grain.”  She led him out and watched him make his way down the corridor before going to her own quarters to retrieve one of the few paperback novels she’d had stuffed into her rucksack.

Returning to his quarters, she curled up on the sofa and toyed with the frayed edges of the cover as she watched her boss.  He’d finally pushed himself too hard and would now have to suffer the consequences.  She set the book on the small table next to the sofa and sighed, realizing the emergency lighting wasn’t going to be enough to read by.  Wearily she laid her head against the cushioned armrest and closed her eyes, determined to be with him when he woke.  She couldn’t very well get any work done with no power and she didn’t fancy wandering about in the dark.  A few hours of sleep would probably do her good.

X*X*X*X*X

            “Belle, it’s TJ, come in.”

            Belle set her hairbrush down on the low table by the sofa in Rush’s quarters and reached for her radio.  She ran her fingers through the still damp chestnut locks, freshly scrubbed from her shower.  Thankfully, the showers worked on a different system and weren’t affected by Destiny’s loss of power.  She’d donned a clean pair of black yoga pants and a thin pale cream colored cashmere sweater and a flat pair of her favorite strappy sandals.  The familiar clothes had been chosen for comfort when she’d packed them in a space bag and dropped them in her rucksack months ago and now she was happy to have them with her.

            She turned the volume down on her radio so as not to disturb Rush and pressed the com button.  “Yeah, TJ, I’m here,” she answered.

            “I’m sorry I haven’t been to check in on Dr. Rush.  He still sleeping?” the medic asked, concern evident in her soft tone.

            “Yeah, he’s still out…although he’s been a bit restless for the past hour or so.  He should be waking soon, I expect.”

            TJ sighed, sounding uncomfortable of a sudden.  “I hate to ask, Belle, because I know how badly Dr. Rush needs to rest, but I need you to wake him.  Colonel Young needs to see him as soon as possible over here in the shuttle.  It’s important.”

            Belle’s lips turned up in a faint smile as her gazed raked over Rush’s sleeping form on the big bed.  “No, TJ, it’s alright.  You know he’s going to be a veritable bear because we’ve let him sleep for so long as it is.  We’ll be there shortly.”

            “Thanks, Belle.  TJ out.”

            She rose from the sofa and rubbed her clammy palms nervously against her outer thighs as she inched herself towards the bed.  She didn’t know how Rush would react to her presence after the abominable argument they’d had earlier, but there was no other recourse.  He’d be more cantankerous than usual if she let him sleep and he missed out on something important regarding the ship.

            She eased onto the edge of the bed to sit next to him, her hip pressing gently against his side and she had to quell the tingle that seemed to ripple over her flesh as it radiated from the spot where their bodies touched.  _Get a grip, you goose!_ she scolded inwardly as she reached out timidly and rested her hand against his chest.  She smiled as she felt the steady beat of his heart beneath her palm.  Unable to find it in her to move, her gaze swept over his face, noting the dark circles ringing his eyes and the five o’clock shadow that darkened his jaw.  If he continued to disregard simple matters such as eating, sleeping and showering, his health was going to decline and then he’d be no good to anyone.  Not that she cared whether anyone else benefited from his genius, but she knew their mission would be doomed to failure without him.  _I need him_ , she thought ruefully, admitting it to herself finally.  She’d just need to make sure he put forth a better effort to take care of himself whether he liked it or not.

            Belle brushed a lock of hair away from his brow, reveling in the softness as the strands caressed her fingers.  She took a long moment to take advantage, gently massaging her digits over his scalp before finding her voice.  “Rush, time to wake up,” she murmured softly.  “Come on, Rush.”

            Her hand drifted from his temple and down along his stubbled jaw, cradling it gently.  She started slightly as he covered her hand with his own callused palm, pressing it firmly to his face as he turned his head and nuzzled into her touch.  She felt a blush creep up her neck to settle in her face as his lips brushed against the sensitive flesh of her palm and she wasn’t certain if the small moan that echoed in the room came from him…or her.  A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth and her heart clenched painfully as she wondered if he were dreaming of his dearly departed wife.  He’d suffered so much, and she felt it somehow wrong that his subconscious couldn’t give him peace even in his dreams.

            “Belle…” he sighed softly, his lips pressing a kiss to her palm.

            Her eyes flared wide and her lips parted on a gasp as her name fell from his lips.  _Wait! What?!_   But she didn’t have long to contemplate as his sable eyes flew open to meet her startled gaze.  He sat up swiftly, bringing himself face to face with her, his lips mere inches from her own.  She raised her free hand, the one not trapped in his strong grip, and carded it through the hair over his left ear, fairly drowning in deep pools of sable as he held her gaze.  What could he have possibly been dreaming if he was reacting to her like this?

            His arm curled around her waist, pulling her closer with a groan, her chest pressing gently into his.  “Belle…”

            It dawned on her then that he must still be disoriented from sleep and she could have screamed in frustration.  He didn’t know what he was doing, still wrapped in the haze between waking and dreaming.  It just wouldn’t be fair to him if she used his vulnerability to her advantage…it really wouldn’t.  Yet, she had that little voice niggling at the back of her mind that reminded her how much she’d enjoyed the brief kiss they’d shared days ago in the maintenance corridor.  That same voice pecked at her mind cajoling her to take what she wanted and there was no denying that she wanted Nicholas Rush…the desire churning in her blood was testament to that.

            _Hell!  I’m only human._   Her hand slid around the back of his neck and pressed gently into the knot of tension at the top of his spine, just beneath his nape, urging him forward and closing the distance between them.  Her lips closed over his and she marveled at how perfectly they fit together.  She forced back her raging desire, contenting herself with acquainting herself with the shape and texture of his lips, afraid if she moved too far too fast she’d break something between them.  His hand tightened almost imperceptively against hers as he continued to hold it to his cheek, his lips parting beneath hers and a low rumble of pleasure sounding low in his throat.

            That sound encouraged her, a confirmation that he wasn’t averse to her advances.  Oh how she wanted to deepen the kiss, to slide her tongue into his mouth to taste, to savor, to explore and it was with great restraint that she settled for soft nibbling kisses.  She still wasn’t sure if she wanted to take that leap into a deeper relationship with him, still so afraid to risk her heart, but she couldn’t continue to fight her attraction for the man.  She’d wanted him for far too long.  Just one taste would never be enough, but it was a start.  “How did…you sleep?” she whispered against his mouth between kisses.

            Rush tensed beneath her gentle touch and his eyes were wide as he drew away from her, dropping his hands to his lap as he took in his surroundings.  “Oh, Belle, I’m so sorry.  I—“

            She pressed a finger to his lips, cutting off what was sure to be a long drawn out apology.  “Hush.  You’ve done nothing wrong,” she said, smiling shyly.

            His tongue snaked out to wet his lips, almost as if he were trying to catch the last hint of her taste on his lips.  “Belle…I shouldn’t…”

            She darted forward and pressed another soft kiss to his lips, her actions meant to assure him that he hadn’t done anything she was opposed to.  Reaching out towards the nightstand to his left, she retrieved a cup of water she’d set there for him when he woke and popped the cap on the bottle of Advil she kept beside it, shaking out two of the pills into her palm.  “Here, take these,” she said, placing the items in his hands.

            She cast him a pleased smile when he did as she asked without his usual complaints.  “How did I get here?” he asked, his voice hoarse and raspy from his prolonged sleep.

            “Greer brought you here for me.  I doubt I could have managed on my own,” she teased.  “You passed out for a little while.”

            He dropped back against his pillow again, his head spinning.  He lifted a hand, heavy with weariness and rubbed at the painful throbbing in his temple.  “How long?”

            Belle pressed the tiny button on the side of her dainty gold watch and the face lit up with a faint blue glow.  “About ten hours.”

            “Has anything happened?” he asked, reluctant to meet her gaze.

            “Not since we lost power.”  She took the empty cup and refilled it from the canteen before pressing it back into his hands.  “You haven’t missed a thing.  How do you feel?”

            He raised up on an elbow and drank greedily from the cup.  “Embarrassed.”

            “Don’t be, Rush.  TJ said you’re going through caffeine and nicotine withdrawals.  It’s to be expected,” Belle said, fidgeting with a loose thread on the duvet.  “You’re not the only one suffering from the effects.  So are about a dozen others.”

            “You weren’t there, Belle.  I was a complete raving lunatic,” he said with a sneer of disgust.  “Young probably wants to toss me out of the nearest airlock.”

            Belle ducked her head, watching him carefully from beneath her lashes.  “Worse than our own little blow up in the control room?”

            At that subtle reminder, he was instantly filled with remorse.  He sat up again and took her hands in his.  “Belle, I’m sorry.  Despite the withdrawals, it’s still not a suitable excuse for my actions.  Not with you.”  He added that last in a tone fraught with emotion and she felt her belly twist in a knot of longing.

            “Humph,” she murmured.  “Indeed, it wouldn’t be a good idea to alienate the only person on board who likes you,” the teasing tone back in her voice as she leaned on the arm she had braced near his right hip and reached up to brush the hair away from his eyes.

            He couldn’t bite back the half-moon grin that pulled up his lips.  “You like me?”

            “You know I do, you stubborn Scottish ass,” she whispered softly, her eyes twinkling with affection.  “But I’m still a bit peeved with you.”

            “Belle…”

            “You should have told me,” she scolded gently.  “I could have helped you.  There’s nothing I could have done for the lack of coffee or cigarettes, but there are other things I could have done to help ease your pain.  I’m quite adept at soothing ravaging beasts.”

            “Are you now?” he asked, arching a dubious brow at her.

            “I am.  Perhaps after this latest crisis is overcome, I might show you.  But for now, we have to go.  I was going to let you sleep until you woke on your own…probably the first real sleep you’ve had since we came on board…but the colonel wants to show you something,” she said, rising unsteadily to her feet.  “Then when he’s done, we can grab something to eat…as much as I abhor that sludge we’re forced to choke down…and you can shower.  This power shortage has one small advantage,” she rambled, tossing him his boots.

            “Yeah, and what’s that?”

            “You can take care of everything you’ve been neglecting on a personal level.”  She turned, all hints of her teasing banished from her face.  “I won’t have you collapsing again because you fail to take care of yourself, Rush.  I…ah…I don’t want to…I _can’t_ …do this without you.  This is _our_ mission.”

            The breath hitched painfully in his chest as he witnessed the determination and concern for him on her lovely features.  Something had shifted in their relationship and there was no way he was going to let this new opportunity to have things grow between them pass him by.  “I’m not going anywhere, Belle.  I promise.”

X*X*X*X*X

            Young turned to greet them as they entered the shuttle.  “Come on in, you two.”

            Belle was rather surprised at his seemingly good mood, all things considered, but quickly dismissed it from her mind as she caught the view from the cockpit windows.  “Nice,” she said, taking in the giant Red Dwarf in their path.

            “Orbital insertion trajectory?” he asked of no one in particular.

            Lt. Scott grinned.  “That was my first thought.”

            Greer nudged him in the shoulder.  “I thought your first thought was we were gonna fly into the damn thing,” he joked.

            Scott cast him an irritated glance, but otherwise ignored him, giving Rush his full attention.  “”No, sir.  I’m guessing we’ll get close enough to kiss, but not enough for capture.”

            Belle inched closer to the window, absolutely fascinated by the view before her.  Never in her wildest imagination had she ever thought she’d see something she’d only read about in her books.  It was all too incredible.

            “An aero-braking maneuver?” Rush asked, stepping behind her and bracing a hand on either side of her hips on the window.  He rested his chin on her shoulder and grinned, whispering so only she could hear.  “You’re going to catch flies, Miss French,” he teased.

            Belle snapped her gaping mouth shut with an audible pop and smirked at him over her shoulder.

            Scott continued.  “Well, the math’s over my head, but yeah, we should come out of a slingshot somewhere in-system.”

            Rush moved away from Belle and inspected the panel before him with someone’s idea of sticky notes full of translations for the corresponding buttons and switches.  “Where there are habitable planets,” he said, his sharp mind still on the conversation going on around him.

            “Well, we’re still too far out to know if they’re anything more than rocks,” Colonel Young said, leaning wearily on his crutch.  “But we found three candidates before Big Bertha here filled up the sky.”

            “So this trajectory is no accident, then?” Belle asked, her curious gaze swinging between the two officers.

            “Apparently not, but we’ll know for sure once we’re clear.”

            Scott checked his watch.  “Which’ll be in six minutes.”

            Rush peeled off the translations and raised a condescending brow at Scott and Young.  “Who translated this?  You know it’s completely backwards.”  No one bothered to answer so he turned back to the console and replaced the sticky notes in the correct position.

            Scott shared Belle’s obvious excitement over the upcoming slingshot maneuver the ship would be making in mere minutes.  “Well, pull up a chair, sir.  This’ll be a show you don’t want to miss.”

            Rush urged Belle into the co-pilot’s seat and took the pilot’s seat for himself, wanting her near to hand so he didn’t have to worry unnecessarily for her safety.  He would have plopped her firmly in his lap if it wouldn’t have raised questions he wasn’t prepared to answer.  Whatever was beginning between them was no one’s business but their own and he didn’t want to start idle gossip.  “There’s going to be some severe turbulence when we contact the atmosphere,” he said, strapping himself in.

            Young turned to exit the shuttle.  “I’ll pass the word.”

            “Colonel,” Rush said, stopping the man before he could leave.  “About our previous conversation…”

            “Rush, no need to apologize,” Young said, cutting the scientist off.

            Rush snorted.  “I wasn’t about to.  I’m trying to explain I was suffering from withdrawal symptoms…”

            Again the colonel cut him off.  “Yeah, yeah, I know.  I know all about it.”  He made his way down the ramp, Greer falling into step beside him.  “Man’s a lot of work,” he commented dryly.  “Lot of work.”

            Rush reached over and assured himself Belle was firmly strapped into her seat.  “Don’t be afraid, Belle,” he said softly, offering her his hand should she wish his support through the upcoming maneuver.

            She turned her bright cerulean eyes on him, excitement gleaming within their depths and linked her fingers with his.  “I’m not.  This is going to be amazing,” she fairly squealed.

            He shook his head, grinning at her exuberance as the ship rumbled and shook beneath them. 

            “Thirty seconds to contact.  Hang on!”  Scott said, his voice rising to be heard over the groaning of the ship.

            Belle gripped tightly to Rush’s hand as the ship picked up speed.  The turbulence made her stomach roil with a mixture of fear and excitement, but she had faith in Destiny to hold together and see them safely to the other side.  She had nothing to compare the feeling of hurtling through space at breakneck speed to, but she knew she’d never forget it.  And then they were through and back out into the vastness of space, two of the three planets Scott had mentioned clearly visible.  The third was still out of range.

            “Whoooo!” the lieutenant whooped.  “Hell of a ride, huh?”

            Rush huffed a short laugh and settled his gaze on the screen embedded into the panel.  “Yes, yes it was.”  He gave Belle’s hand one last comforting squeeze before releasing her.  “Now, let’s find these planets you were talking about.”

            Scott pointed out the shuttle window.  “There they are, dead ahead.”

            “Yes, we should be able to analyze the atmosphere of the nearest planet within a few hours.”

            Belle unbuckled her harness and moved to stand behind his seat so she could view the data displayed on his screen.  “Oh no.”

            “What?” Scott asked, not liking the worried note in Belle’s voice.

            TJ moved to his other side, her brow wrinkling.  “Problems?”

            Rush sighed.  “Our trajectory has changed.  The planet has altered Destiny’s course more than we’d hoped.”

            Young came back into the shuttle in time to hear Rush’s declaration.  “What are you talking about, Rush?  Lieutenant, what the hell’s he talking about?”

            Belle turned to level him with a grim stare over her shoulder before gesturing to the view through the window.  “Destiny’s on a collision course with a star, Colonel.  We’re going to fly right into it.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: well, I really hope you all enjoyed this week’s installment. I’m having so much fun writing it for you. Would really love for you to let me know what you think.
> 
> Ok, I don’t usually plug fics in my a/n, but I read this one last week and I just really really enjoyed it…DÉJÀ VU by Billiebongvilla…I recommend it to all you SGU/OUAT Rushbelle readers out there. It can be found on AO3. If you get a chance definitely give it a go!!! It’s a WIP, but don’t let that deter you (o:


	5. Light

**Disclaimer: Yeah…still don’t own SGU.  Neither do I own “Fall” by Clay Walker but it really fit well into the scene about midway through the chapter.  Hope you like it.  If you’re not familiar with the song, check it out on the music channel of your choice.**

 

            The gate room was cold and dark, illuminated only by emergency lighting and the artificial glow of a few flashlights.  Everyone had been gathered, both civilian and military personnel alike, to hear the colonel’s news.  The man’s face was grim as he stepped out onto the balcony opposite the stargate and began to slowly descend the stairs, halting halfway down so that he could hold a position where everyone could see and hear him.

            Rush crossed his arms over his chest and leaned his shoulder against the cold stargate at the rear of the room.  Belle stood at his side, pale and trembling slightly as she toyed with the wrapper of a Jolly Rancher she’d yet to discard.  He didn’t care to be there for the colonel’s announcement.  He knew what Everett was going to say, had helped to prepare his speech.  His presence there was unnecessary.  He and Belle could be in the shuttle, running the numbers again to make sure they weren’t mistaken.

            His arms tightened about his torso as he watched Belle surreptitiously from the corner of his eye.  His skin itched as he took in the slight tremor of her hands and he longed to pull her into his arms and offer her comfort.  However, he wasn’t quite brave enough to openly display his affection for her in a room full of his peers who would scorn him for taking advantage of the situation to prey on his little assistant’s fragile emotions.  He knew they all thought him a bastard, blamed him for stranding them all there, but he couldn’t have cared less.  Belle was his primary concern.

            It used to be enough that he had her by his side, working and striving forever forward to attain their goals, enough to have her friendship, her companionship.  She challenged him at every turn, bringing a new perspective to his life.  Now he found himself wanting her for more than just her brilliant mind…now he wanted her body, her heart and yes, even a little piece of her soul.  He’d thought he loved her before they had started the Icarus project, but it was nothing compared to what he felt for her now.  It was as if once leaving Earth, she’d gained confidence, a new sense of self and it intrigued him, drove him to find out more of what made her tick.

            His eyes skimmed appreciatively over the soft curls cascading over her shoulders and the itch returned to his clammy skin as he yearned to twine his fingers in the long strands.  He’d never thought she’d care for him as more than a friend.  She hadn’t kissed him as if she regarded him as such, no matter how desperately she’d been holding back.  He’d practically been able to feel the desire humming beneath her pale skin.  Imminent death, however was not conducive to romance.  The dynamic of their relationship had changed before they’d discovered Destiny’s new path, though, so he knew the shift had nothing to do with their impending doom.  On some level…it might only be physical…she cared for him.  He wanted to rail at the heavens for making him realize it too late, his chance to court her affections snatched cruelly away because of the ship’s changed trajectory. _Fucking hell!_

            Rush focused on Young as he called for attention, the crowd falling silent.  “You’ve all heard about our situation.  I’m going to repeat the facts so that we are all clear,” he began, leaning back wearily against the railing of the staircase.  “In just a day this ship will fly into a star.  Now, we have no power to change its course. We have no idea how to steer the ship.  Even if we did, we are having another bad day.”

            “We can always depend on Young to state the obvious,” Belle mumbled under her breath, sidling closer to Rush.  Her comment was drowned out by the crowd as they murmured their agreement with the colonel’s words, but she knew Rush had heard her by the wry twist of his lips.

            Young waited for the crowd to fall silent once more before he continued.  “So, here’s what we’re gonna do.  We have a working shuttle.  We think there are three planets out there that might be habitable.  Now, we _think_ …we _believe_ …that it’s no coincidence that Destiny dropped out of FTL in this solar system, to give us a chance.  Once we know for sure that there is a planet out there for us, we are going to have a lottery.

            The murmuring and gasps of surprise rose in urgency and the colonel had to raise his voice to be heard over the din.  “We will draw the names of fifteen people.”

            Brody stared up belligerently at the colonel, crossing his arms stubbornly over his chest.  “The shuttle can hold twice that many.”

            Scott shifted his rifle and looked down at the assembled crew, his eyes searching out the engineer on Rush’s science team.  “Not once it’s been loaded up with supplies.  Besides there’s only life support for seventeen, max.”  The people below cast him a skeptical look, and he had to grit his teeth in irritation.  He’d spent the better part of the last twenty four hours inspecting and familiarizing himself with the shuttle.  He knew what he was talking about.

            Belle continued to twist the thin piece of cellophane nervously in her hands.  There was still so much work to be done and her time would be better served elsewhere instead of standing there listening to the nervous chatter of her fellow crew members.  “Rush, this is so unnecessary.  I—“

           “Belle,” he said in a low whisper of warning.  He knew she was anxious to leave the gate room so they could continue their argument, but at the moment their place was there. 

           She clenched her teeth and tossed him a bright smile that didn’t come close to the heat in her eyes.  Rush stifled a snort at her theatrics and turned back to their commanding officer.

           “I will be choosing two of the people myself—two people with the necessary skills to fly the shuttle and survive on the planet,” Everett said, leaning heavily on his crutch as his dark eyes scanned the crowd.

            “Yeah, I bet I can guess who they are.” Spencer sneered cynically at his superior.  Belle glowered at the marine sergeant from her place in the shadows, never having liked the man’s tendency to buck the system. He’d chosen to be a marine, the least he could do was obey his superior officer and keep his mouth shut.

            Belle pressed into Rush’s side so she could whisper in his ear.  He shivered as her warm breath fanned against the damp flesh of his neck.  “Things are about to get ugly.  Can we go _now_?”

            “No!” he hissed, exasperated with her defiance to his orders…and the colonel’s orders… _Face it.  Belle doesn’t take orders from anyone and to think that she will is living in the land of delusion._

            Belle pursed her lips into a moue of displeasure, but held her tongue and turned back to hear the rest of the colonel’s speech.  Young walked down the remaining stairs and limped to the front of the crowd, his mouth drawn in a tight line of pain.  He stared Spencer down with a hard expression for several tense seconds.  “I’ll be taking _my_ name out of the lottery.  Anyone who wants to join me, keep talking.”  His bold statement brought an end to the nervous chatter going on about the room.  “We’re still several hours away from knowing if the first two are even habitable, so I suggest you all go back to your quarters and wait it out.  That’s all I have for now.”

            Rush remained where he was, silently surveying the crowd as they began to disperse.  He was happy to remain unnoticed from his position next to the gate, but Belle was practically bouncing on the balls of her feet.  “Now we can go,” he said with a tired sigh, rubbing his hand over his nape to ease away some of the tension as he led her around the back of the gate and through a door little used by the crew.

            She fell into step beside him as they gained the corridor, sneaking glances at the tight set of his jaw from the corner of her eye.  “Rush, this is an unnecessary endeavor and you know it.”

            He glanced down at her, but never broke his stride as they made their way to the shuttle bay.  “What are you talking about?”

            “We don’t know if _any_ of the three planets are even going to be habitable.  What if we’re sending these people off to an uncertain future on a world they won’t be able to survive on?  They should remain here on Destiny,” she said, digging a Jolly Rancher from her pocket and popping it into her mouth.

            “Belle, you don’t know that.  We have to give these people their best chance at survival.  We’ll know more once we can run diagnostics.  We should be close enough now to be able to get a clear reading,” he said, stepping onto the shuttle and moving to sit in the pilot’s seat to access the shuttle’s computer.

            “I just don’t think Destiny came this far to perish in the corona of a star, Rush,” she insisted sulkily as she plopped down heavily in the copilot’s seat and focused on the console before her.  She hated it when he dismissed her ideas out of hand.

            Rush closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, the pressure behind his lids nearly unbearable.  “We won’t be able to convince the colonel to change his mind based on a hunch.”

            Belle grumbled something about stubborn scots under her breath and cleared the screen before her.  Instead of trying to take readings on the planets they were nearing, she pulled up the data on Destiny’s failed systems in an effort to learn if her theory held water.  Only when she had factual scientific proof before her would Rush give her his undivided attention.

X*X*X*X*X

            Belle tsked as she leaned back in the chair and stretched her arms languorously over her head, unable to suppress the yawn that built with the release of the tension in her limbs.  Rush glanced up at her with a blank look, his broken glasses hovering over his notepad as he double checked his calculations.

            “I told you all those hard candies were eventually going to stick your tongue to the roof of your mouth,” he deadpanned, trying once more to focus on the slightly blurred numbers written on the lined pages.

            Belle huffed a small chuckle and smiled.  “No, Rush.  That’s not why I clucked at you.  If you had bothered to look in your toiletries kit, you would have found your spare pair of glasses instead of continuing to use the broken pair.”

            “I don’t own a spare pair,” he said, arching a brow at her.

            She lowered her jewel bright eyes sheepishly.  “Yeah, you do.  I might have ordered a second pair from the optometrist before we left for Icarus…just in case,” she said, peeking at him from beneath her lashes.  “Would you like me to fetch them for you?”  Her skin itched with the need to escape the shuttle before his penetrating gaze dug down too deep and discovered all her secrets.

            “Ah...no, no, that won’t be necessary.  There’s no need for you to run off to the other side of the ship and another level down just to get my glasses…especially since you seemed to have settled in so well,” he said, a teasing smirk playing at his lips.  He set his glasses and notepad aside on the console and leaned back in his chair, absently stroking the stubble on his chin as he met her gaze.  “Belle, why do you always have that bag with you?  What were you running from?” he asked, softly, cursing inwardly as he watched her visibly tense.

            Her hands tightened on the armrests of her chair, her fingertips white and bloodless from the pressure she was exerting.  The _thump_ _thump_ of the colonel’s crutch sounded as he entered the shuttle and Belle was able to breathe a sigh of relief over the interruption.

            “Sorry to interrupt, but you radioed me?” Everett said, glancing between Belle and Rush with a quizzical frown.

            Rush tore his dark eyes away from Belle, the last look he’d given her promising that he’d demand an answer later, and gave the colonel his full attention.  “Ah, yes.  The first planet is too cold, frozen methane.  The second is too hot.  The third…well that happens to be behind the star at the moment, too far away to determine habitability.”

            Young nodded, frowning.  “When will we know?”

            “It doesn’t matter.  We don’t have any choice.  We’re going to have to launch the shuttle before we can get close enough.  The odds are good, though.  Its orbit is in between the other two—the Goldilocks Zone, they call it.”

            Belle grinned ruefully.  “Not too hot and not too cold.”

            Rush smiled warmly at her.  “Yeah.  Just right.”

            Young leaned back against the support bar at his back and sighed.  “What if we use the engines from the shuttle to push the Destiny off course?”

            Rush huffed a mirthless laugh.  “That’s a good thought, but I’m afraid we’ve already run the numbers and without getting into delta-V and thrust-to-weight ratios, then…”

            “Not a chance then.”  He paused a moment, letting the hopelessness of the situation seep into his being.  “Well, when do we launch the shuttle?”

            “We could wait a few more hours, but the extra time - I don't think it's gonna give us any more information than we already have.”  His gaze met Belle’s, feeling her eyes watching him closely.  “Belle, could you give me a moment with the colonel?”

            Her eyes narrowed in suspicion.  “But—“

            “Please, Miss French,” he replied, his tone brooking no objection despite the softness of it.  He wouldn’t start a heated argument with her in the presence of the colonel.  If his decision was going to spark a fight between them, it would be better to be held in private.  Even with mere hours left to live he couldn’t bring himself to incite gossip about them that would spread all over the ship.

            Belle was seething with resentment as she rose from her chair and stormed past Young.  She didn’t go far, Rush was sure and he kept his voice low and even to prevent it from carrying to the corridor beyond the shuttle bay.  “Colonel Young, if by chance, you were thinking of choosing me as one of the two…please don’t.”

            Young stared at him in disbelief.  “Why?”

            Rush sighed, taking a moment to search for the right words.  “This ship…coming here…was _my_ destiny.  My life’s work was to be here, not trying to survive on some rock with a bunch of strangers.  In fact, you can take my name off the lottery altogether.  It will also give Miss French a better chance of being chosen.”

            Young studied the scientist for several tense seconds before nodding, the look on his face showing clearly that he had a newfound respect for the man.

X*X*X*X*X

Belle was waiting for Young when he stepped out of the shuttle bay.  “Colonel—“

“I’m sorry, Belle, but I won’t divulge Dr. Rush’s confidence any more than you would,” he said, starting to make his way down the corridor to prepare for the lottery.

She fell into step beside him with a roll of her eyes.  “No, of course not,” she scoffed.  “Besides I probably already know what he had to say to you.  I wanted to talk to you about another matter.”

“And what would that be?” he asked wearily, the motion of his every step sending a shooting pain through his back and right leg.

“I did some research into Destiny’s database while Dr. Rush was doing diagnostics on the planets we’re approaching.  I am of the firm belief that those chosen to take the shuttle will have a better chance if they remain on Destiny,” she explained.  “The last of our power reserves were diverted into the ship’s life support system.  Our oxygen output due to the scrubbers and ventilation system only account for a small part.  Ninety percent went into our shields.  I believe they will hold.”

Everett stopped and bestowed an indulgent smile upon her, making her want to gnash her teeth.  “Belle, we’re talking about thousands of degrees…”

“Fifteen point seven million degrees Celsius…give or take…if it’s anything like the sun from the Milky Way Galaxy,” she said, her inner nerd coming to the fore.  “But that’s beside the point, Colonel.  Destiny was launched millions of years ago and has traveled through more galaxies than we can count.  How can we think this hasn’t happened before?”

Young sighed and raked a hand through his short cropped dark hair.  “What is Rush’s theory on the subject?”

Belle winced, chewing thoughtfully on her lower lip.  She’d been expecting him to ask, but it didn’t make it any easier to answer.  “We’re at odds on the subject.  He believes the trajectory was skewed due to our encounter with the gas giant and the aero-braking maneuver around the planet.  The odds of the shields holding being below seventy five percent makes him twitchy,” she admitted ruefully.  “And he never listens to me.”

Everett had to bite the inside of his cheek to retain his stoic expression when he wanted to chuckle.  “I’m sorry, Belle, but I can’t take the chance if even Rush is hesitant.  We will proceed with the lottery.”

Belle had to quell the urge to stamp her foot.  “But, Colonel—“

“I’m sorry, Belle.  Was there anything else?” he asked, turning to continue down the corridor.

“As a matter of fact, yes.  I want you to remove my name from the lottery,” she said, her chin rising defiantly, daring him to argue with her.

Young gaped at her incredulously.  “Belle, you don’t know what you’re saying.”

“I know exactly what I’m saying, Everett,” she said gently, using his given name.  They weren’t civilian and military any longer, but rather just two human beings.  “He asked you to take his name out too, didn’t he?”

Young nodded, shifting uncomfortably under her knowing gaze.

“This ship is important to me…to both of us.  I have faith in her to bring us through,” she said, laying a hand over his on the handle of his crutch.  As much as she might dislike the man, she was hoping he would empathize with her.

“Rush wants you on that shuttle.  He’ll be furious to hear you asked me to remove your name from the drawing,” he said, clearing his throat.

“It’s my decision.  No one decides my fate but me, Colonel…not even Rush,” she stated vehemently. 

“What’s going on here?” Rush asked, rounding the corner and coming upon them as they faced off.  “Belle?”

Young sighed and smiled tightly.  “I’ll do as you asked, Belle, but I’ll leave you to explain to Dr. Rush.”

“Gee thanks, Colonel,” she drawled in a dry tone as he limped off in the direction of the gate room, chuckling in amusement as he went.

She’d made it maybe three steps when Rush’s warm callused hand lightly gripped her elbow, pulling her to a halt.  “What were you speaking with the colonel about?” he asked, searching her face.  It was never a good sign when she wouldn’t meet his eyes.  “Was it about your theory that the shields will hold?”

Belle pulled out of his hold and continued down the corridor, making her way to the observation deck and leaving him to follow.  She was still irritated that he had blown off her idea just because there wasn’t enough scientific evidence to support her claim.  Or rather the odds she’d presented him weren’t enough to have him side with her.  “I just thought he should be informed.”

“That’s a first,” he snarked, coming to stand at her side at the railing, taking in the vast length of Destiny as it neared the star.  “Belle, don’t be angry.  You know I couldn’t—“

“Yeah, I know, Rush,” she said, wearily leaning her palms against the railing and hanging her head to gather her composure, letting the anger drain out of her.  “He’s proceeding with the lottery.”

Rush lowered his eyes, tearing his gaze away from the vista before him.  “You should go pack your bag and get to the gate room.  You…ah…you don’t want to be late for the drawing,” he said, his voice raspy with emotion at the thought of being separated from her. 

“No, I don’t think I will,” she said softly, waiting patiently for the explosion of his temper that was sure to follow.  “I’m not leaving Destiny and I’ve made my intentions clear to the colonel.  He wasn’t pleased with my decision, but there’s nothing he can do about it.”

“What?!”

And there it was, she thought with a small huff of mirthless laughter.  “Rush—“  He didn’t give her a chance to explain, protest or in any way voice her opinion.  He simply wrapped his hand about her wrist and pulled her along behind him towards the open door of the observation deck.  “Rush…Rush stop!” she objected heatedly, digging in her heels and jerking her arm out of his grasp.  “Nicholas!”

The use of his given name brought him up short and he whirled on her, reaching for her once again in his determination to save her.  “What are you thinking?” he hissed angrily.  “You have just as much chance to secure a seat on that shuttle as anyone else.  I’ll not have you toss it away on some misguided sense of duty.”

Belle planted her hands firmly on her hips and glared at him defiantly.  “It’s not your choice!  Why should you get to withdraw your name and then refuse to allow me to do the same?” she asked, firm in her belief that she was right.

His lips curled over his teeth in a sneer.  “Young told you?”

“No, he didn’t.  I know you, Rush.  I know how you feel about this ship because I feel the same.  Since we’ve come aboard, we’ve faced one crisis after another, yet for the first time in more years than I care to count…I feel as if I’ve come home,” she said, feeling the sting of tears prickle behind her lids.  “I won’t leave Destiny and…and I won’t leave you,” she finished, unable to meet his eyes, feeling as though she’d already revealed too much.  If they were indeed destined to die, she figured why the hell not.  She turned away, returning to her place at the railing.

His heart fluttered and warmth spread through his chest at her words, but just as quickly he shoved his personal feelings aside.  The need to save her, to give her the best chance of survival, drove him onward.  “If your name is drawn, you’re getting on that shuttle, Miss French,” he reiterated, stepping to her side and gripping her shoulder to turn her to face him.  “That’s not a request.”

Belle’s lips curled into a smirk as she lifted one perfectly arched auburn brow.  “Really?  What are you going to do if I don’t obey your oh most imperious command?  Fire me?” she asked.  “Fine…I quit!  But I’m not leaving.”

“Why do you have to be so bloody stubborn?” he asked, pacing away from her and raking a frustrated hand through his long hair.

“Why can’t you simply respect my choice?  Nicholas, please,” she said, turning the full blast of her pleading gaze on him.  She watched with inner satisfaction as his resolve crumbled before her.  She held out a hand to him, silently asking him to trust that she knew what was best for herself. 

Rush stared down at her hand, wondering what the odds were on tossing her over his shoulder and forcefully carting her off to the gate room.  Sighing in defeat, he reached out and linked his fingers through hers, allowing her to pull him to her side.  He stared straight ahead, squinting his eyes against the brightness of the star filling the window, warmth spreading through his chest as she tentatively squeezed his hand and rested her head against his shoulder.  He forced himself to banish his regrets and just be thankful she’d chosen to stay.  As she’d said so many times…they were in this together.

X*X*X*X*X

            Rush observed his little assistant, her face the picture of serenity as she watched the ship draw ever nearer to the star looming before them, his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth with all the things he wanted to say to her before it was too late.  Twice now he’d opened his mouth to speak and both times he’d failed.  Would it even matter now?  Belle squeezed his fingers and pointed as the shuttle rose from its bay.

            “Well, it’s too late now, isn’t it?  You should be on that shuttle, Belle,” he said for the umpteenth time since he’d learned she’d withdrawn her name from the lottery.

            Her eyes held a tender look as she turned her gaze to lock with his.  “I’m right where I want to be.”

            Eli rushed onto the observation deck, a Kino remote clutched in his hand.  He was followed closely by Chloe, Young and Greer, all of them wanting to bid a silent farewell to those fortunate enough to be chosen to survive on the chosen planet.  “I sent a Kino with Riley, hoping to get an exterior view of the ship,” he explained, smiling at Belle.  He pressed several buttons on the remote and the video feed displayed clearly on the screen.  He held it up so everyone could see the images. 

            Young’s radio crackled, Lt Scott’s voice coming in clearly as he piloted the shuttle away from the Destiny.  “This is Scott.  We’re away.”

            “You’re looking good, Lieutenant,” the colonel said, his voice raspy with emotion he tried to hide.

            “I expect we’ll be out of radio range by the time we fire up the main drive so…we’ll be thinking of you guys,” Scott responded.

            Greer clicked the com button on the radio strapped to his shoulder.  “You too, brother, you too,” he murmured softly.

            The colonel swallowed audibly before finding his voice again.  “Matthew, TJ, take good care of those people.”

            Belle could hear the raw grief in Scott’s voice as it echoed over the open channel, and it made her even more thankful to have the comforting reassurance of Rush’s warm palm pressed so tightly against her own, lending his strength.  “I will, sir.”

            The retros above the shuttle fired briefly, the small ship hovering over Destiny.  Finally the rear engines engaged and the shuttle streaked away from them.  Eli held up the remote, smiling.  “There it is,” he said reverently as they got their first glimpse of Destiny’s hull.

            Chloe pressed closer into Eli’s side, her eyes alight with wonder.  “That’s the Destiny,” she said, her thoughts going to her father.  He’d been such a staunch supporter in the Icarus project, had given his life so they could have more time to solve the life support issues.  It was a shame he couldn’t have witnessed firsthand the magnitude of the Ancient ship.

            Rush gazed at the image in amazement until the Kino drifted further away and the light of the star moved into the frame, obliterating everything on the screen.  Eli lowered the remote and tucked it into the pocket of his jacket, watching in silence as the shuttle raced farther and farther away from them.

            Rush nodded appreciatively, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips.  “Thank you, Eli.  I never thought I’d get the chance to see the ship from the outside.”

            Young smiled, his gaze swinging fondly to each member of his crew.  “You know what?  I think I’m gonna go for a walk.”  He turned to Greer.  “How’s that sound, Sergeant?” he asked, hoping for some company.

            “Sounds like a plan, sir,” he said. 

            “Ronald…” Belle said softly, reaching out her free hand to the master sergeant she considered a dear friend.

            “Always a pleasure, Miss Belle,” he said, clasping her hand tightly in his and gracing her with a saucy wink.

            Rush’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly and his own hand tightened reflexively against her fingers.  “Well, I shall be—“

            “Right here with me,” Belle said firmly, cocking a brow and challenging him to argue.  She pulled her iPhone from the pocket of her yoga pants, the ear buds wrapped around it.  “I’ve got a playlist I want to listen to while _we_ watch the show.”

            He smiled down at her, realizing he’d happily don a spacesuit and stand on the prow of the ship if she asked it of him.  Young held his hand out to him.  Touched, Rush clasped it in his own, shaking hands with the man.  Young nodded to the others and then he and Greer made their way to the door.

            Rush schooled his weathered features into a mask of apology as he turned to the young man that had been thrust into the program against  his will and taken away from everything comforting and familiar in his life.  “Eli, I, uh…I’m sorry I got you involved in this.”

            “Actually…” Eli said, narrowing his eyes as if surprised at what he was about to say.  “…I’m not.  Yet!” he clarified.  “I’ll probably be sorry at the end of the day but…”

            Belle and Chloe chuckled softly, amused with their friend.  Rush nodded and looked down, unable to respond. 

            Eli noticed the sadness gleaming in those dark sable eyes before the scientist’s gaze slithered away.  “We don’t have that long, do we?”

            Rush shook his head.  “No.”

            Chloe looked out the window at the looming star, a tremor of fear in her voice.  “How will it happen?”

            Rush gave her a searching look, measuring her character from what little he knew of her, unsure whether to tell the full truth.  She’d already been through so much, what with her arrival on the Ancient ship against her will and then losing her father, yet he knew Belle would want him to be honest with the girl.  “Well, there will be turbulence from the solar wind, far worse than what we’ve previously experienced.  Heat, obviously, and intense G-forces.  I suspect the ship will be torn apart long before we reach the star.”

            Belle sighed.  “Nothing like brutal truth, eh, Rush?” she said dryly.

            He shrugged, offering her an apologetic look.  “Aren’t you always preaching at me to be honest?”  He turned his gaze back to the tall brunette.  “Hopefully, it will be quick.”

            Chloe smiled weakly and twined her fingers with Eli’s, drawing him away from the scientist and his assistant to sit on one of the plush sofas set before the observation window, pulling him down to sit next to him and resting her head on his shoulder.  He glanced down at her dark head, smiling ruefully.  He knew she’d rather be with Scott aboard the shuttle heading into an uncertain future than there with him.  He felt it was rather selfish of him to be thankful that she was there by his side, but couldn’t muster up the will to be sorry.

            Belle retained her grip on Rush’s hand, pulling him to the sofa on the opposite side of the room.  She didn’t know where the rest of the crew was, but she was grateful she wouldn’t have to share the observation deck with more than just Chloe and Eli.  She was quite confident that her theory was right, and the knowledge afforded her a calm that was completely out of place among the others.  She could fairly feel the anxiety radiating from Rush as he took a seat on the sofa and pulled her down to sit beside him.  He was trying to be brave for her, hiding himself away behind a mask of cool reserve when it was absolutely unnecessary.

            She finally released his hand and unwound her ear buds from around her phone, handing one to him while she turned the device on and waited for it to load.  “What would you like to listen to?” she asked, smiling sweetly as she showed him what she had to offer.

            “Does it matter?” he asked.  He couldn’t have cared less about what she chose.  It was enough that she wanted him close, had chosen to spend her last moments with him when there were any number of people on the ship more worthy.

            She pulled her legs up, folding them beneath her as she nestled into his side.  He didn’t resist as she took his hand and looped it over her shoulders.  She smiled as his pupils grew larger and his eyes became hooded, happy that he wasn’t trying to put a respectable distance between them.  She held his gaze for a moment longer before she slipped the ear piece in her ear and scrolled through her music selections, choosing a playlist with several slow country songs.  She had everything in her music library from classical to country and rock to pop, but the playlist she chose had been made months ago when she’d first begun having dreams about him and she felt it appropriate.

            Belle waited until he’d slipped the bud into his ear and then pressed play, resting the phone on her thigh as the first strains of Clay Walker’s _Fall_ began to play.  His brow furrowed into a puzzled frown as he listened to the unfamiliar music, having been certain she would have chosen one of the classical pieces they both favored.  “What—“

            She pressed a finger to his lips, reveling in the softness, remembering how they’d felt joined with hers and her voice was a breathy whisper as she shushed him.  “Just listen to the words.  Relax.  Let everything fall away until there’s nothing but us, Nicholas,” she breathed, his name a soft caress against her tongue.

            Rush couldn't have looked away if he’d tried, so mesmerized as he was by her…the woman he loved, whispering his name in a seductive purr, her hand resting against his chest over his heart, her head on his shoulder and desire shining in her heavily lidded gaze.  Why couldn’t he have acted on his feelings before it was too late?  Why did he have to wait for the threat of impending doom to finally hold her in his arms?  Somewhere he forced the passion induced haze that fogged his brain aside long enough to focus on the lyrics of the song she’d chosen and the breath caught in his chest.

 _Oh, look there, you go again, puttin' on that smile again_  
Even though I know you've had a bad day  
Doin' this and doin' that, always puttin' yourself last  
A whole lotta give and not enough take  
But you can only be strong so long before you break

            He had to smile.  How many times had she coaxed him out of a bad mood with one of her teasing smiles and witty banter, always giving of herself to the point of exhaustion and never expecting anything in return?  His gaze dropped to her mouth, the words falling silently from her lips and his hands clenched into fists to control the insatiable urge to kiss her, to claim her, to possess her and draw her into his heart and his body until the entire world knew without a doubt that she belonged to him.

 _So fall, go on and fall apart_  
And fall into these arms of mine, I'll catch you  
Every time you fall, go on and lose it all  
Every doubt, every fear, every worry, every tear  
I'm right here, baby fall

 _Forget about the world tonight, all that's wrong and all that's right_  
Lay your head on my shoulder and let it fade away  
And if you wanna let go, baby, it's okay

            Belle’s gaze never wavered from his as her hand crept slowly up his chest, along the warm flesh of his neck and over his nape, her fingers curling through the soft strands of his hair.  “Nicholas…” she murmured softly, urging him to close the distance between them.  “Nicholas…would you catch me?” she whispered, her lips brushing tenderly against his with each word.

 _Fall, go on and fall apart_  
And fall into these arms of mine and I'll catch you  
Every time you fall, go on and lose it all  
Every doubt, every fear, every worry, every tear  
I'm right here, baby fall

_Hold on, hold on  
Hold on to me_

            A needy moan escaped his throat as his tongue darted past his teeth to wet his dry lips.  His desire grew with every note as the music crested, yet still he held back.  His gaze turned to the observation window, the star growing larger on the horizon and he knew they were running out of time.  He’d never be able to have her, yet at the same time how could he deny her?

            Belle’s fingertips slid along the curve of his jaw, gently bringing his gaze back to meet hers.  “I’m right here, Nicholas,” she breathed.  “Will you catch me?” _Will you have me?_ she thought, her eyes darkening with desire as she waited for him to cease fighting with his inner demons and take what they both wanted.  “Please, Nicholas…don’t think, just feel.”

 _Fall, go on and fall apart_  
And fall into these arms of mine and I'll catch you  
Every time you fall, go on and lose it all  
Every doubt, every fear, every worry, every tear  
I'm right here, baby fall

            His lips closed over hers and he felt every one of his muscles melt into the soft curves of her body, one hand delving into her dark hair, holding her still, the other wrapping about her waist to press her firmly to him as he reveled in her taste, his tongue gliding tentatively over her lower lip.  This was their first real kiss without some obstacle between them.  There was no panic caused by her claustrophobia needing to be banished, no sleep induced fog to prevent him from fully claiming her.  Her lips parted beneath his, her fingers tightening in his hair, tugging gently, the pleasant sting increasing his ardor as his tongue slipped into her mouth to duel with hers, each fighting for dominance over the kiss.  He sought out every crevice of her delectable mouth, anything, everything that would bring her pleasure and make her continue to emit the soft moans that echoed over and through his own mouth as he swallowed them down, capturing them greedily and holding them reverently within him.

            Rush cradled her face in his warm palms and pressed his brow to hers as he broke the kiss in an effort to allow them both to catch their breath.  “ _Shealbhú tú mo chroí, mo Belle.  Is breá liom tú,”_ he murmured, his brogue thick as his heartfelt promise fell from his lips.

            Belle smiled shyly as she recognized the Gaelic words, if not their meaning.  It wasn’t often that he was so overcome with emotion that he’d slip into the language of his childhood, but she couldn’t deny it aroused her.  “What does it mean?” she asked, her curiosity piqued.  She nuzzled her nose with his, reveling in the soft brush of her skin against his.

            His only answer was a darkly seductive twist of his lips as he stretched out his wiry frame on the length of the sofa and hauled her against his chest, affording them a bit more comfort as he claimed her lips once more.  But that quirk of his lips hadn’t been able to disguise the sadness, the longing, nor the pain that lingered in his sable eyes.

            She braced her hands against his chest and broke the kiss as she pushed away, searching his face.  The mask had indeed slipped, the cool reserve replaced with remorse, regret…goodbye.  Angry tears gathered in her eyes and spilled over her lashes.  “Don’t you dare!” she hissed, the sound no louder than that as she forced the words out around the knot that had formed in her throat.  “Don’t you say goodbye to me, Nicholas.  We are _not_ going to die.  The shields _will_ hold.”

            “Oh, Belle, I’m so sorry for dragging you into this mess,” he said, catching her wrist in his firm grip when she attempted to smack his chest.

            “Oh, Gods!  That’s why you kissed me.  You were saying goodbye,” she cried, her face a mask of horror.  “You don’t really want—“  Her voice trailed away and she tried to lift herself away from him, to run and seek the solace of her room, but his arms held her tightly, giving her no quarter and effectively trapping her within his embrace.

            His fingers rubbed gently across her nape, urging her to meet him halfway as he lifted his head to brush his lips to hers.  “How could you ever think I wouldn’t want you, _mo ghrá?_ I’ve always wanted you,” he vowed, again speaking from his heart without revealing all.  Doubt filled her jewel bright cerulean eyes and he cursed, wondering how everything had gone so badly.  He shifted so he could rest on his side, facing her, caged within his embrace between his body and the back of the sofa.  He fitted his hips flush with hers, the evidence of his erection pressing into her and he fairly growled his pleasure against the corner of her mouth.  “Can’t you feel me, Belle?  My body won’t lie to you.”

X*X*X*X*X

            Chloe dragged her gaze away from the object of their imminent death filling the window and searched out her new friend across the room.  The noise that had drawn her attention, Belle’s iPhone as it had smacked against the cool metal floor, the white ear buds coiling snakelike.   Her eyes widened incredulously and she smacked Eli in the center of his chest, drawing him abruptly from his reverie as he thought of all the things he’d never get to do with his life.  “Eli! Eli!” she cried in a loud whisper, pointing across the room at what had to be the most unconventional couple she’d ever seen.

            “What?!” he wailed, rubbing his chest where she’d hit him.

            She slapped a hand over his mouth, at the same time turning his head towards the other sofa a good fifteen feet away.  “You said they weren’t _together_ ,” she said accusingly.

            Eli pried her hand away from his mouth, which now gaped open.  “She said he didn’t…he wasn’t…interested in her like that.”

            Chloe’s lips twitched as she met his gaze and she was forced to press her face to his shoulder to muffle her startled laughter.  “Well apparently she was wrong.”

            “Are we there yet?” the boy genius whined.  “I so want this image burned from my retinas.”

X*X*X*X*X

            Belle moaned low in her throat and yielded to the desire curling through her, melting once more into his embrace.  Her lips parted beneath his, opening again as his questing tongue delved into the hot inner recesses of her mouth.  She felt consumed by him, her head spinning deliriously as he alternated between soft nibbling kisses and a fiery assault.  Her nails scored his shoulders through the thin material of his t-shirt, giving herself over to the onslaught of his lips, teeth and tongue.  Only the first rumblings of turbulence shaking the ship could jar her from her euphoric state.

            Rush sat up and turned his worried gaze to the observation window, pulling her up beside him and pressing her head to his shoulder.  A litany of _They’ll hold!  They’ll hold!  They’ll hold!_  echoed through her mind as she stared, awestruck at the star filling every inch of the window.

            Rush climbed to his feet unsteadily, moving towards the railing as the bow of Destiny dipped into the star, the shields shining bright blue against the hull…holding firmly, never wavering.  Belle joined him at the railing, her face lit up in triumph.  “YES!!!” she cried exuberantly.

            He laughed joyfully, catching her as she threw her arms about him and twirling her in a circle before setting her on her feet and kissing her soundly.  “You were right,” he said, laughing again.  She ducked her head sheepishly, pleased with his praise.  He cupped her chin in his hand and raised her face to meet his gaze.  “There will be no living with you now.”

            Belle snorted and buried her face against his chest, simply happy to be alive.

            Eli rose from the sofa, staring at the pair of scientists as if they’d taken leave of their senses.  “Uh, what are we so happy about?”

            “We’re going to live, Eli,” Rush said, smiling at him over the top of Belle’s head.

            Eli gaped at him.  “What about the turbulence and the heat and the death?” he asked, his voice rising in his excitement.

            Belle shook her head, easing herself out of Rush’s embrace and retrieving her phone from the floor, wrapping the ear buds around it and sliding it back into her pocket.  “No, all of that would have happened by now.  The shield is protecting us.”

Chloe joined them at the railing.  “But you said we were out of power.”

            “I was absolutely certain of that,” Rush said, nodding happily.  Belle chuckled, unable to remember the last time she’d seen him so light hearted.  She was sure it wouldn’t last long.  Another crisis would arise to turn him into a surly bear.  “And I’ve never been more pleased to be wrong in all my life.”  Quickly, he twined his fingers with Belle’s and pulled her along behind him, heading for the control interface room.

            Belle protested, but followed.  “Rush, we’re missing it!! How often can you say you were _inside_ a bloody star?  Would you slow down?”

            Eli followed after them, anxious to keep abreast of what was happening.  The consoles flickered to life moments before they entered the control room, data streaming across the screens and Eli hurried to his.  “You’re right!  The systems are coming back online all over the ship!”

            Young came in, grinning like a fool as Belle began running diagnostics on her console.  She arched a brow, never having seen the strict military man lose his reserve.  He looked almost human, she thought wryly.  “There’s a rumor spreading that we’re still here.”

            A crooked grin curled Rush’s lips as he gazed down at his fully functioning console with delight.  “We are,” he unnecessarily confirmed.  The lights came on in the room, further adding to the jovial mood that had overtaken its occupants.  “Destiny needed all its power reserves to protect itself— _and_ us.”

            Belle gasped, her gaze swinging urgently to lock with Rush’s.  “Nicholas, are you seeing this?” she asked excitedly.

            Young’s ebony brows disappeared somewhere in his hairline as he looked at Rush and smirked, mouthing, “ _Nicholas_?” 

            Heat crept up Rush’s neck to stain his cheeks, which only made him more disagreeable towards the man.  He didn’t answer, instead paging through the data until he found what had Belle so in awe.

            “Uh, guys?” Eli asked, activating the holographic screen in the center of the room which showed Destiny’s position in relation to the star.  “We’re _in_ the star.”

            Young limped forward, his eyes scanning the screen.  “That can’t be right.  You’re talking thousands of degrees.”

Belle rolled her eyes.  “Fifteen point seven million Celsius, Colonel.  I thought we’d covered that earlier,” she said dryly.

            Rush exchanged a warm glance with Belle, his sable eyes glowing with approval for her wit before turning his attention back to the colonel.  “Well, we’ve just flown through the corona, which is even hotter, to say nothing of magnetic fields, gravitational stresses…This is what Destiny intended from the moment it entered the star system.”

            “You’re telling me it flew into the star on purpose?” Everett asked, clearly surprised.

            “That’s exactly what he’s saying,” Belle agreed, beaming from ear to ear with satisfaction.

            “Why?”

            “To replenish its reserves,” Rush said simply.  “The ship is powered by the stars themselves.  Solar powered—quite literally.  There is no other explanation.”

            They all stared at the screen, their eyes mapping Destiny’s course through the star until it began to pull out of it.  The ship jolted momentarily, followed by the hum of the engines roaring to life.  Eli let out a small whoop of excitement, laughing.  “The engines just came back on!  We’re pulling out of it!”

            A shrill tone pierced the air and Belle groaned as she looked up to see the countdown clock begin.  “Oh no.  The shuttle!”

            Young’s face strained with determination.  “We’ve gotta call them back.”

            “Uh, we haven’t accessed communications yet,” Eli said worriedly.

            Rush rapidly entered commands into the console.  “I’m working on it,” he confirmed, the muscle in his jaw ticking furiously as he felt the tension build in his wiry frame.

            “Well, you know if you don’t figure it out before we go into FTL…” Young snapped irritably, the stress weighing upon him as well.

            Belle read the numbers on the clock written in Ancient.  “Plenty of time, Nicholas.”

            Young swung around to regard her coolly.  “We can’t strand those people here.”

            Rush cast him a pointed look.  “Then this would be an excellent time for you to trust me to solve this problem.”

X*X*X*X*X

            Lt Scott piloted the shuttle closer to the planet, their safe haven…which apparently wasn’t so safe after all.  When they’d finally gotten close enough to take a reading, it had shown the planet to basically be a frozen tundra.  They’d be able to survive, but the question was for how long.  Everyone had drifted into silence long ago, their thoughts troubled as they thought of those that had been left behind to face their fate.  The com came to life, a voice filtering through the static, one they’d never thought to hear again.

            “This is Young, come in,” came the colonel’s voice.

            Scott shared a look of stunned disbelief with TJ, soft murmurs emitting from the passengers strapped in behind them.  He reached up, and with Brody pointing him in the right direction, pressed the com link.  “Uh, this is—“ He had to clear his throat of the raw emotion choking him.  “This is Scott, sir, how the hell?”

            “We’re just as surprised as you are, Lieutenant.  I’ll explain later.  You need to get your ass back aboard this ship,” he commanded firmly despite the smile Scott and TJ could hear clearly evident in his voice.

            Laughter and applause met that announcement along with a profound sense of relief and Scott took a moment to sit back in his seat to shake off his amazement in order to follow Young’s orders.  TJ pointed out the cockpit window.  “Look, there it is!”

            Scott followed her line of vision to see Destiny in the distance, still trailing debris she’d collected in the star.  “Will do!  Scott out.”  He turned to the controls and immediately began plotting an intercept course that would see them back on board.

            He typed tentatively into the console, still not confident with his limited knowledge of the systems.  He’d had no other choice, forced to learn quickly due to necessity.  The console beeped negatively, so he patiently retyped the information.  Once again the computer denied his request.  He clicked the com link.  “Uh, Colonel, stand by,” he said, turning to seek help from Brody with the computer.  “I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.  Am I reading that right?” he asked the engineer.

            Brody looked down at the failed scenario on the screen and bit back a curse.  “Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me.  We’re so close!” he cried, looking at the Destiny out the cockpit window.  “You can almost touch it!  It’s right there!”

            “The Destiny’s accelerating away from us and we can’t match it,” he said dejectedly, raising his head so his voice would carry through the com link.  He pressed the button a little harder than necessary in his distress.  “Colonel, we have a problem here.  We can see you, but the shuttle’s computer cannot come up with an intercept solution.  Destiny is accelerating too fast.  I’m trying to put something in manually here but there’s no way to cross the _t_.  Sir, we’re gonna fall short.”

            Rush’s voice came over the com, questioning,  “You're on full power, yes?”  
  
            “I put the throttle up right away. It's-it's just not gonna be enough.”  
  
            Eli’s frantic voice came next, echoing through the shuttle as he offered his own advice. “You  _must_  have afterburners or something.”

            Scott glared at the com above his head.  “It’s not an F-16, Eli, it’s a spaceship!!” he snapped.  “Is there anything you can do to slow Destiny down?  Because we’re out of ideas here.”

            Back on Destiny, Young paced around the holographic screen, pleading with Rush.  “Come on, guys.”

            Rush swiped a hand down his face, thinking hard.  Young could have sworn he heard the gears grinding in the doctor’s brain.  Rush dropped his hand and leaned over the console, speaking clearly into the open com link.  “Lieutenant, I want you to turn and head directly towards the planet.  We’ll send you an exact course in a moment.”

            Eli, understanding what Rush intended, pulled his calculator out of his pocket and rapidly began inputting numbers. 

            “Belle,” Rush snapped hurriedly.  “Help Eli run the numbers!”

            Belle darted across the room and took up the space next to Eli at his console, entering the numbers into the console as quickly as he could rattle them off.

            “No, no, no.  The planet is a rock.  We’re better taking our chances…” Scott answered. 

            Rush glared impatiently at the link.  “Do what I say, Lieutenant.  We don’t have much time.  In order to reach the star, Destiny used an aero-braking maneuver to slow down.  I’m suggesting you perform a slingshot maneuver around the planet to do exactly the opposite,” he explained.

            Young felt hope spring to life within his chest where before he’d experienced only defeat.  “A gravity boost to speed up.”

            Rush nodded.  “It should put Destiny directly in their path.”

            The rapid whir of Belle’s fingertips slowed to a stop as the console beeped.  “Got it!” Eli exclaimed, feeling a proud sense of accomplishment.

            Rush left his console, stalking purposefully towards Eli.  “Whoa, whoa, whoa.  Eli, there’s many variables here.  Are you sure about this?” he asked, ignoring the icy glare Belle shot his way.  He was sure he’d catch hell from her later, but time was of the essence and there was no margin for error.

            Eli cast him a pointed stare before gesturing to himself.  “Math boy, remember?  Send it.”

            Belle snickered and turned away before Rush could scold her for her impertinence.

            “Ok, Math Boy,” he said, entering a few swift strokes on the console, the data transferring to his own.  He returned to his own workstation and immediately sent the new course to the shuttle’s computer.

            “Is this gonna work?” the colonel asked skeptically.

            Rush leaned his palms flat on the console and shrugged.  “It’s gonna be close.”

X*X*X*X*X

            Rush released a long hiss of air through his teeth as Young limped out of the control interface room to go meet up with the shuttle and welcome the remaining members of his crew.  Eli had deserted them earlier to watch the shuttle dock from the observation deck… _live_ , he’d said, instead of on the display in the control room.  He rubbed fervently at the ache in his neck, leaning his head to the left until it popped with an audible crack.  He tried to focus on the screen before him, to shake off the fatigue and stress that plagued him, to concentrate on the work that had to be done, but the soft gentle fingers that replaced his own drove away all coherent thought and left nothing but pleasure in their wake.

            His head bowed, his hair falling over his brow as his eyes closed, a shiver creeping up his spine.  “Belle…I’ve got work to do,” he protested only half-heartedly.  Her thumb pressed into the soft tissue of his neck and he bit his lip to hold back the needy whimper threatening to escape his throat.  It wasn’t the first time she’d gone to work on him to alleviate the pain he suffered…too many long hours bent over his work would do it.

            While he was distracted, she slipped between his body and the console and switched it off, the expression on her face daring him to argue.  “I’m hungry,” she said softly, using her other hand to brush a lock of hair behind his ear and trail her fingertips along his jaw.  “Would you care to have dinner with me?”

            His watchful gaze flitted between her heavily lidded eyes and the now cold console, torn between duty and desire.  “Well, I don’t know, Miss French.  Can you secure us dinner for two from Bruno’s?” he teased, propping a hand on the console on either side of her hips and leaning in to cage her within his arms.  “A nice juicy filet, fried onions and garlic mashed potatoes?”

            Her stomach growled loudly and she flushed scarlet.  “You play dirty, Rush,” she groused, her lips pursing into a moue of irritation.  What she wouldn’t do to be able to order out from the little steakhouse near her apartment back home.

            Rush sighed, realizing he’d gone too far when she reverted to his last name instead of the seductive purr of _Nicholas_.  “I think I can hold off on the sludge a little longer, thank you,” he snarked, backing up to give her space.  He was surprised when her hand trailed down his left arm and  her warm palm slid against his, entwining their fingers. 

            “Come have dinner with me,” she said, gentling her tone, tugging on his hand to get him moving towards the door.  He cocked a brow at her as she began walking backwards, raised her radio to her lips and clicked the com button.  “Dale, this is Belle in the control room.”

            “Yeah, Belle?” came Volker’s hesitant reply.

            “Could you please fill in for me for a few hours?” she asked, never taking her eyes from Rush as he dug in his heels. 

            “Have you taken leave of your senses?  Surely you must have, to think that I would leave that muttonhead in charge of—“  His voice trailed away as she caught her lower lip between her teeth and lowered her eyes to peer at him from beneath her lashes.  He felt all the blood leave his head and venture south.  _Minx!  Fuck, am I in trouble!_

            “I’m certain he won’t steer us into a black hole while we’re having dinner…Nicholas,” she cajoled.

            “On my way, Belle,” Volker answered.

            A slow smile of victory curved up one corner of her mouth as she clipped the radio back to the waistband of her yoga pants, tugging once more on his hand to get him moving.  “Then afterwards you can take a hot shower and change into something that doesn’t smell like three old day cheese,” she snarked.

            “My clothes do _not_ —“

            “Yes, they do,” she sing-songed.  “Then if you like we can take the long way from our quarters back to the control room and you can put in a shift.”

            “Belle, _mo ghrá_ ,” he growled, taking advantage of her relaxed stance to pull her off balance and into his arms. He wrapped the arm that still held her hand around her back, pressing her to his chest. “You drive a hard bargain, but not quite.”

             She pressed a kiss to the hollow of his throat and a tremor shook him, too used to avoiding human contact.  “What if I agree to work through the shift with you?”

            “You’re definitely getting warmer,” he teased, releasing his hold on her to follow her to the mess. 

            They walked in silence for a few minutes before her curiosity got the better of her.  “Nicholas, what is this…with us…between us, I mean?” she stammered nervously, gesturing between them. 

            That imperious brow of his rocketed skyward in surprise, but his tone was filled with a tenderness she’d never heard him use on anyone before…ever.  “Something new…different and profoundly special, _mo ghrá_.”  He lifted her hand to his lips and pressed a lingering kiss to her palm.  “It’s whatever you want it to be, Belle.”

            Her tongue darted out to wet her suddenly dry lips, watching him closely from the corner of her eye, hating the blush that stained her cheeks.  “Can I ask you something?”  He nodded, waiting for her to proceed.  “ _Mo ghrá_?  What does it mean?”

            He slowed his steps outside the mess, turning to her before they could enter the large cavernous room and the boisterous noise pouring out into the corridor where they stood.  Belle sucked in a sharp breath as his eyes darkened until they were almost black.  “I promise I will tell you when the time is right.  Now just happens to _not_ be that time.”

            They’d barely stepped foot into the mess when Young called out to them.  “Dr. Rush, Belle, come…sit with us.  These two have even showered!” he said, getting in a jab at Eli and Scott.

            He didn’t bother to look towards the table occupied by the colonel and his elite, anxious to get his rations and be alone with Belle.  “No thanks.”

            He followed Belle over to where Becker was preparing rations into their meager tin bowls, beginning to get irritated with the colonel as he cajoled jovially, “Ah, come on.  We should celebrate.”

            “Celebrate what?  That we’re back where we started?” he bit out acidly.  He could feel Belle’s disapproving stare on him, but it was too late to take back his words and he wasn’t at all certain that he would have if it were possible.  There would always be bad blood between him and Young.  He didn’t see that changing in the near future.

            Scott joined in, not even the animosity flying back and forth between the two men able to deter his good mood.  “Ah, come on, have a seat, Rush!”

            Rush still stubbornly refused to give in.  “Some other time.”

            “You’re being rude, Nicholas,” Belle said, leaning in to whisper as she took the bowl from Becker. 

            Young rose to his feet, hobbling over to them.  “All right.  Well, Becker, give him a double ration.  He deserves it.”

            Rush snorted.  “Why’s that, then?”

            The smile never faltered from Young’s face.  “Well, I’m in a good mood.”

            “We’re to be rewarded at your whim, then?” he asked caustically, gnashing his teeth in irritation.

            “No, no, just stop.  What, you—you want some reasons?  I’ll give you three.  You were right about the power situation,” he said, though it was just as difficult for him to admit when he was wrong as it was for the scientist.

            Rush took the bowl of rations from Becker and poured a portion into Belle’s bowl so they’d have the same amount, despite her protests.  “No, you need them more,” she said.

            “No arguments,” he said, the warmth radiating from his eyes when he looked at her nearly a tangible thing in the cold room.  He spooned a bit of the porridge into his mouth and did his best to suppress a grimace before addressing the colonel’s statement.  “Not really, Colonel.”

            “You figured out the sub-space communications, how to call the shuttle,” Everett argued.

            Rush stared down into his bowl.  “We needed to get those supplies back.”

            “You took your name out of the lottery.”

            Belle sighed wearily, tired of the tension and ready to quit the mess.  “So did you, Colonel.”

            Young smiled at Belle.  “I was injured.  He actually made a sacrifice.  And I could say the same for you, Belle.  Although, I would attribute your decision to pure stubbornness,” he said, chuckling fondly at the girl.

            Rush stepped between them, his spoon clattering against the side of his bowl, the only thing to attest to his souring mood.  He in no way appreciated the familiarity Young felt towards his little assistant…she was _his_.  “And if we’d listened to her in the first place there wouldn’t have been a need to use the shuttle at all.  A mistake I don’t intend to repeat…and neither should you.”  He glared icily at the man just on principle and linked his hand with Belle’s, leading her towards the door and out into the corridor.

            Greer finished off his rations and watched the pair leave the mess as the colonel resumed his seat.  “I don’t know how that little gem tolerates him,” he drawled lazily, the events of the day catching up to him.

            Eli choked on a spoonful of his rations and Chloe pounded on his back, sliding a cup of water next to him.  She shot him a warning look that demanded he keep his mouth shut about what they’d seen on the observation deck. 

            Scott however, caught her glare and successfully interpreted it.  “Wait…seriously?” he demanded of Chloe, who held her tongue.  Eli’s flaming cheeks gave truth to the speculation and everyone at the table fell silent, TJ grinning smugly and Young’s brow furrowed in a puzzled frown.

            “No, you’re mistaken,” Young insisted.  Eli lowered his head, wishing he could drown in his rations.  “You have to be.  Belle would never—“

            TJ interceded.  “Colonel, let it go.”

            Scott looked aghast.  “Belle and Rush?!”

            Young shook his head, groaning.  “That man is a lotta work.  A lotta work.  Hopefully, Belle knows what she’s getting herself into.  Frankly, there’s not much I can do as they’re both civilians and don’t fall under the military code of conduct.” 

            Scott just couldn’t let it go however.  “How did you two even find out, Chloe?”  When she wasn’t forthcoming with any information, he pressed Eli.  “Eli, buddy…come on, man, spill.”

            TJ shook her head in resignation, used to their tendency to gossip like a group of church ladies.  “As much as I would love to know what happened, I wouldn’t want to be around when Belle French finds out you’ve been gossiping about her.  And heaven forbid she hears you’ve been badmouthing her boss behind her back.” She shot Greer a searching look.  “She still taking self-defense classes from you?”

            “Not exactly,” he said, his gaze focusing anywhere besides the medic.

            Of course that only ignited the colonel’s interest.  “Sergeant, would you care to enlighten us?”

            “Not particularly, sir, no.”

            “How about you do so anyway,” he said, and when the master sergeant still hesitated, he added.  “Don’t make me turn a simple request into an order.”

            “Let’s just say she’s moved on from defense, sir,” Greer mumbled evasively.

            “Sergeant, I expressly forbid teaching the civilian personnel offense,” Young grouched.  “Why would you disobey a direct order?”

            Greer’s gaze moved from one of his friends and coworkers to the next, making sure he had everyone’s undivided attention.  “Anyone ever walk in on one of their fights?  The ones that usually end in a broken white board and Jolly Ranchers scattered all over the floor from the science lab to the mess?”  Chloe and Eli, being new to Icarus were the only two who weren’t trying to hide a snicker, a cough or an all-out _hell yeah_ behind their hands.  “I just couldn’t resist, sir, I apologize.  I’d pay good money to see him push her too far.  She’d kick his skinny ass.”

            “Ron!” TJ admonished, her eyes tearing with mirth.

            Scott pushed his bowl aside and propped his elbow on the table.  “I still want to know what happened,” he pouted.

            Chloe, unable to take the puppy eyed look he was casting her, finally caved.  “It was just a kiss.”

            “Are you sure?” Eli asked, frowning at her.  “I’ve never heard a girl make that kind of noise just from one kiss.”

            “Why am I not surprised,” Greer mumbled good naturedly under his breath.

            “Hey!” Eli returned, offended by their lack of faith in his ability to romance a female.  He glanced at Chloe and slumped in his seat, seeing their point as his attempt to get to know the senator’s daughter had failed abysmally.  Not that he wasn’t happy to have her as a friend, but he’d wanted more.

            “Well he is an older man and he _was_ married before,” TJ added.

            Everett cast her a sidelong glance, his face a mask of disgust and horror, realizing his ex-lover had actually given the matter some thought.

            Greer chuckled.  “One thing is certain…things are about to get interesting around here.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: For those interested, “Shealbhú tú mo chroí, mo Belle. Is breá liom tú,” is Irish Gaelic for “You hold my heart, my Belle. I love you.” And ”Mo ghrá” means “My love.” He’s dying to tell her how he feels, just not courageous enough to do so, therefore, he’s relying on the language he grew up with. Unfortunately, Belle isn’t fluent in it. Don’t worry, he’ll tell her eventually lol. BTW, this was my fav chapter to write so far (o:


	6. Water

 

       “Just give me a quick moment to gather your things and I’ll meet you in the bathroom, hm?” Belle asked, her voice wavering only slightly as she tried to contain the excitement that hummed in her veins and had every nerve ending in her body singing soprano.  She palmed the lock and slipped into his room, going to the dresser and retrieving his small bag of toiletries and a change of clothes.

       He was scowling at his reflection in the mirror hanging over the bathroom counter with its double basins, regarding the dark circles under his eyes when she joined him.  “Why didn’t you tell me I looked so awful?” he asked, throwing her an accusing glare.

       Belle set his things down on the counter and shrugged.  “You look as you always do, Nicholas,” she said, her heart skipping a beat as she used his given name, trying to familiarize herself with the feeling of it on her tongue.  “Overworked, underfed, and in desperate need of sleep.”  And sinfully handsome, she thought silently, but she’d keep that to herself for the time being.   It was a bone of contention between them, that he was negligent when it came to caring for his basic needs, and something she desperately wanted to correct.  She was determined to see that he didn’t drive himself into an early grave because he refused to take care of himself.

       “Always brutal honesty with you, Miss French,” he teased.  She had a way of cutting through the bullshit and speaking with an honesty he no longer found disturbing as he had when she’d first begun working for him.  Now he found it refreshing to know she meant the things that slipped so easily from her rosebud mouth.  Rush turned the knob on the faucet, scowling down at the fixture when a trickle of water issued forth and then died away.  “No water, I suppose?”

       “The water level in the tanks is lower than what we’d like.  The colonel had Brody seal off the pipes to the lavatories after he heard Eli’s report…just until we can find a viable planet and replenish our supplies,” she explained, hopping up on the counter between the sinks.

       Rush arched a brow at her as she tugged on his waistcoat, pulling him between her parted knees and looping her arms lightly around his neck.  His hands skimmed up the sides of her thighs and came to settle on her hips as he pressed his brow to hers, reveling in the freedom of now being able to touch her like this.  “And the showers?”

       Belle shrugged again, her tongue gliding over her lower lip as she contemplated answering him or kissing him senseless.  For now, she thought it would be best to satisfy his curiosity.  “From what Eli has been able to determine, they don’t use water, but rather some type of cleaning solution that forms a mysterious mist that beads up on your skin.  I mean, I’m sure it incorporates some water, just not enough to be a detriment to our supplies.”  She brushed her lips to his, unable to resist a moment longer and sighed happily.  “Want me to show you how it works?” she asked softly against the corner of his mouth as his fingers tightened reflexively against her hips.

“I don’t know,” he murmured, nipping lightly at her lower lip.  “Are you planning on joining me?”

She chuckled, unable to miss the note of hopefulness in his tone.  “If I do, it’s doubtful we’ll ever get back to work.”  He backed off with a sigh of regret as she pushed gently against his shoulders and lowered herself to the floor, padding across the tiles and opening the frosted glass door of one of the stalls.  “Give the lever a three quarter turn and it should give you satisfactory heat and pressure…I mean…”

       “Belle…” he said, taking her hand and raising it to his lips to press a kiss to her palm, pulling her closer and narrowing his eyes on the deep blush settling in her cheeks.  “Are you alright?”

       “Fine,” she assured him, nearly breathless with the desire coursing through her.

       He wrapped an arm around her waist as he pressed the hand he held captive against his chest.  “You’re not fine; you’re trembling.  You’ve been growing increasingly agitated since we left the mess.  Now, tell me what’s troubling you.”

       Belle ducked her head, breaking their gaze.  All the pent up desire she was feeling was openly displayed in those sable orbs and her control was steadily slipping away from her. “I…Nicholas, it’s been.”  She tried again.  “It’s been a long time since I was in a relationship, especially one that’s relatively normal,” she added the last under her breath.

“Relatively normal?” he asked, unable to hold back the small huff of laughter that escaped his smiling lips.

“It’s complicated.  I’ll try to explain, but it can wait.”

“And this is your idea of normal, is it?” he asked, one corner of his mouth lifting in a familiar smirk.

“Stop it, Nicholas.  I’m trying to be serious,” she admonished, smacking his arm without any real force.  “I have a bit of a problem letting anyone get too close.  You’re the first person I’ve actually wanted to get close to me and the prospect of letting you in is a bit overwhelming.  Do you understand what I’m trying to say?”

He nodded, trailing his index finger along her collarbone in a feather light caress.  “Relax, Belle.  I told you…I’ve wanted this…you…for a long time and not just because we thought we were going to die.”

“…you thought we were going to die,” she snorted.

“Regardless,” he said with a short bark of laughter.  “We’ll figure this out…whatever it is we feel for each other…together.”      

       “Alright.  I know you want to get back to work and I’m holding up your shower, so…” she said, pressing a lingering kiss to his lips before easing out of his embrace and backing towards the door.  “Um…just leave your clothes under the sink and I’ll see what I can do with them…once we have water again…” she smiled, slowly turning to leave him, casting one last shy look over her shoulder, confident they would indeed work things out as they embarked on this new phase of their relationship.

       Belle returned to Rush’s quarters, ready to bang her head against the bulkhead.  What the hell is wrong with me? she thought, moving to the porthole and letting the FTL’s bright glow calm her.  I feel like a girl with her first crush instead of a woman fully grown.  Gah!!  She wouldn’t lie to herself, no matter how much she wished to do so.  She couldn’t deny the attraction between them, an attraction that had been there from the beginning…at least on her part.  It wasn’t so much that he favored Gold, not anymore.  When she’d first met him, the fact that they looked so much alike had been what had driven her to want to know him, but that was where the similarities ended.  They both tended to hide their true selves behind a mask of indifference, but it had been much easier to break through Nicholas’s walls.  He wasn’t as guarded and secretive with her as Gold had been and it was easier for him to trust her.  As much as Gold had loved her…and she was certain he had…she doubted he’d ever been able to fully trust her.

       She’d never thought she would find someone she could care for again, and had built up her own walls for fear of being heartbroken once more.  Did she really want to take them down now?  Could she trust Rush with something as fragile as her heart?  She couldn’t deny there was something between them, something fiery and electric, and something that left her breathless and tingling from head to toe.  But was the physical attraction they shared enough to risk heartache if she should lose him?  Their working relationship had blossomed into friendship, but was it capable of developing into more if she would just let him in?  He’d suffered loss just as she had.  Gloria had only been gone three short years, and when he’d shut everyone else out, she’d been his constant, his rock.

What surprised her the most was the fact that she hadn’t run from him when he got too close.  The force of that realization nearly caused her knees to buckle.  She’d closed herself off from everyone in the years after leaving Storybrooke, focusing on her studies in an effort to bury her heartache.  She had changed colleges twice before settling at Berkeley, but something had made her stay…he had made her stay.  He fed the craving she had deep in her soul, the desire to connect with another human being on an emotional level.  Albeit those emotions stemmed from frustration and anger at first, but he’d done something she hadn’t thought would ever be possible.  The numbness had receded and she’d finally been able to feel again.

He’d become necessary to her, she thought with a groan.  She cared for him, and if she weren’t careful, it would be so easy for her to love him.  Things were so desperate and uncertain on Destiny, however.  Could she really risk her heart when she couldn’t be sure of their future?  She was so lost in her deep contemplations, she started a bit when the door whooshed open and he strode into the room toweling his hair dry.  Her mouth went dry as the Sahara as she took in his form…wet hair, jeans slung low on his hips, his belt loose and the top button unfastened, his chest and feet bare.  The towel was clutched in one hand, his boots and shirt clasped in the other.

“Belle…I thought you would be waiting in your quarters,” he said, dropping his things on the sofa.  “I would have finished dressing—“

“It’s ok.  You didn’t know,” she murmured softly.  Her head reeled with the desire to touch him, the temptation of all that bare skin nearly overwhelming.  She didn’t like the way his hand drifted to the back of his neck to knead away the tension that still seemed to plague him.  Do the brave thing, she told herself.  Her muscles unfroze as she moved to stand before him, her need to comfort him asserting itself.  She took the towel from his hand and tossed it onto the sofa next to his boots, tugging him forward.  “Let me help?”

“With what?” he asked, his eyes darkening at the first brush of her fingers on his.

She met his curious gaze with a smile.  “Lie down on your stomach,” she replied, urging him down on the bed.

He frowned suspiciously at her over his shoulder as his knee came to rest on the mattress.  “Why?”

Belle rolled her eyes and gave him a gentle push.  “Just do it, Rush,” she ordered, following after him as he settled his thin frame across the bed, doing as she bid.

He didn’t complain as she arranged his limbs to her satisfaction, placing his arms at his sides so his face pressed comfortably against the sateen duvet.  She sat next to him, pausing for only a moment before her hands splayed against his lower back.  She couldn’t resist the urge to run her hands over the broad expanse of his back, soft smooth strokes from his lower back to his nape, just enjoying the feel of his skin beneath her fingers.

She was rewarded with a low moan of deep contentment as he relaxed.  “That’s it, Nicholas,” she fairly purred, her warm breath caressing the shell of his ear as she leaned over him.  “Let go.  Let me take care of you.  Although I can’t promise you’ll want to go back to work when I’m done with you.”

       Rush raised slightly from the mattress, but she pressed his head down firmly, tsking.  “What are you doing?” he asked, a breathless note in his deep voice.

       Belle’s warm laughter washed over him, just as effective in arousing him as her firm but gentle touch.  “I’m making you feel really good, aren’t I, Nicholas?  But if you don’t relax I can’t truly begin,” she said, her hands lightly pressing and kneading as she worked over the tight muscles of his shoulders.  He shifted his hips against the mattress, grinding into the soft surface.  “Nicholas, you’re not relaxing.”

       “How astute of you, Miss French,” he snarked, his answer muffled against the duvet, followed by what Belle was almost certain was a string of softly uttered curses…in three languages…one of them Ancient.  She didn’t even know there were curses in the language of the Ancients.  He shook his head fervently.  “Can’t.”

       “Yes, you can,” she insisted.  She pulled her iPhone from her pocket and scrolled through her music, pressing play when she came to a playlist beginning with Pachelbel’s Canon and setting it on the bedside table.  “There, that should help.”

       “I like that piece,” he admitted, trying to relax his stubborn muscles as she’d asked.  “I wasn’t aware you favored it.”

       Belle absently hummed her agreement, sighing happily when she felt him loosen up and sink into a deeper state of relaxation, his muscles becoming more pliant beneath her nimble fingers.  She began with the heel of her hand, just above the waistband of his jeans, and stretched out her forearm into the muscle to the left of his spine.  As hard as she was pressing, she didn’t want to go anywhere near the fragile vertebrae.

       “Christ, woman!” he hissed, rearing up to turn and glare at her.  Again, she pressed his head back to the mattress and shushed him.  “Where did you learn to do this?”

       She alternated between her wrists and forearms, slowly working her way up to his shoulders.  She didn’t answer right away, rising from the bed to kneel on the floor at his head.  He raised curious sable eyes to her, the pupils blown wide, desire evident in their depths.  She shrugged in response to his question.  “I took a class my first semester at Berkeley…for fun.  It was frivolous and stupid, but it helped me to relax and I was able to release tension just as easily as my subject.”

       “I’d say it was money well spent,” he murmured hotly as he reached for her.

       Belle smacked his hand away.  “Stop that,” she laughed.  “I’m not quite done with you.”  She positioned his head where his brow was pressed directly to the mattress, his neck straight and aligned with his spine.  He stiffened immediately when her hands trailed softly over his shoulders and neck, a hiss of pain streaming from between his teeth.  “I know it hurts, Nicholas, but I promise it won’t when I’m done,” she said, pressing her lips to his ear and feeling the tremor that rocked through his body.  “Just relax.”

       “Talk to me, Belle, please.  Anything,” he said, trying to stop the instinctual tensing of his muscles.  He felt as if he could listen to her talk forever if she continued using that soft, seductive tone.  Parts of him were already applauding.

       She leaned into the motion, letting her body weight carry her forward as her forearm dug into the knotted tendon between his neck and shoulder.  “What do you want me to talk about?” she asked, trying not to let herself get distracted from her practiced techniques.  It was distracting enough that he was allowing her to touch him in such a way, her fingers familiarizing themselves with the softness of his skin.

       “I don’t know…ah…oh that feels so good, luv,” he moaned, the sound coming from deep within his chest.  “Why don’t you tell me why you fear dark cramped spaces?”  Her hands stilled in their ministrations and he could feel her closing herself off from him.  “You don’t have to,” he rushed to assure her.  “But you never speak of your past, and I thought…”

       “It’s ok, Nicholas,” she said, resuming her movements as she used the heel of her hand on a particularly tight knot.  “Some things are just difficult for me to talk about,” she hedged, realizing she was being unfair to him.  He’d shared so much with her about his relationship with Gloria.  It was wrong that she had never told him of her past.  “The evil queen stole the princess and locked her away in her tower to keep the princess away from her true love,” she said lightly, gentling her fingers as she caressed the base of his skull.

       She graced him with a tremulous smile as he lifted his head to look up at her, one dubious brow raised in question.  She sighed as her hands fell away from him.  She climbed up onto the bed beside him, turning on her side and propping her head in her hand as she faced him.  “How do you feel now?”

       Rush moved his head from side to side before he rolled onto his back to look up at her.  “Better than I have in years,” he admitted, rubbing absently at that one spot on his neck he never seemed to find relief from the ache.  It didn’t throb painfully as his hand came in contact with it and he stared up at her in awe.  “How did you do that?”

       “It was nothing,” she said, waving a dismissive hand.  “I’ve been wanting to try that on you for quite some time, but I know you’re not a very tactile person, Nicholas.  I didn’t want to encroach on your personal space, at least more so than you’ve already allowed,” she explained, ducking her head shyly.

       “I didn’t think you’d want to,” he said mildly, reaching for her hand and bringing it to his lips to press a kiss to her palm.  A rosy blush rose in her neck to stain her cheeks, a pleased smile curling her lips, but her expression was still guarded.  “Now, would you like to tell me what you meant by the fairytale analogy?”

       Belle bit down thoughtfully on her lip, wondering how she’d be able to clearly explain her complicated past without revealing too much of the truth.  Not that she didn’t want to be honest with him, she did.  But on the other hand, she didn’t want him to think she was clinically insane.  She dug the memories from the vault of her mind and waited for the familiar pain to assail her, for the ragged hole in her chest to tear just a little more.  She gazed down into Rush’s warm gaze and felt her heart lighten as he squeezed her hand where it rested against his chest.  No more than a dull ache greeted her as the memories flooded through her mind and it brought a smile to her face to realize that he was helping her heal just as she’d helped him.

       “Sorry,” she apologized.  “I seem to have a thing for fairy tales.”  She took a deep breath, thankful for the patience her usually manic doctor rarely displayed.  “I was seventeen when I met Gold.  My father had gone to him for a deal…um…to help save his business.  Gold was powerful, rich, well connected,” she said, struggling to modernize the events of her past for his benefit.  “However, papa wouldn’t agree to his terms.”

       “What were they?” he asked softly as he reached up to brush a long curl behind her ear.

       “Me,” she said simply.  “He wanted me.  And don’t look at me like that, Nicholas.  It wasn’t like that…at least not at the beginning,” she scolded when she saw the look of outrage cross his features.  “He thought it would be amusing to have me come to work for him as his maid.  Of course, my father threw a fit, refused him, but I knew there was no other way.  So I made my own deal with him.  I agreed to his deal and left that very day to go to his home.”

      “You said something about true love.  He doesn’t sound like someone you’d easily fall in love with, Belle,” he remarked dryly, knowing what a tender heart she had.  She needed to be treated with the same kindness she displayed for others.

       “It took me a while to see behind the cold mask of indifference and the delight he took in making others suffer.  It was just a front, to protect his heart.  It was easy to love him after that.  And we did…fall in love, that is, but he was afraid…afraid that I couldn’t truly love him…and sent me away.  He didn’t know that doing so would leave me vulnerable to his enemies…one particularly nasty witch,” she said, wrinkling her nose.

       “You’re doing it again,” he teased.  He wrapped his arms about her, unable to resist any longer and pulled her down to lie across his chest.  She went willingly into his embrace, propping her chin on her folded hands so she could continue to meet his eyes.

       “I know, but she really was,” she said, sighing contentedly as he stroked his fingers through her long unbound hair.  “I had decided to return and confront Gold and make him see that we could be happy together, but before I could, Regina abducted me and locked me away in the asylum.  She said she was trying to protect me…trying to save me from the beast.  In truth, she merely wanted to use me as a pawn to gain power over the man I loved.  She even went so far as to tell him I’d died.”

       Rush gaped at her.  “He never looked for you?”

       “Of course he did, but Regina was powerful in her own right and was quite adept at covering her tracks.  He eventually found me and we were happy until…well I don’t care to go into that again,” she said, her eyes closing briefly as his hands skimmed lightly over her back.  “You know the rest.  I came to California, tried out a couple of schools before I settled on Berkeley and became your assistant.  I just…after being locked up for so long, I have a problem sometimes with dark cramped spaces.”

       He had to fight to contain the rage that battled through him, rage on her behalf that someone would so mistreat her.  His arms tightened about her shoulders and he rested his head atop her crown as she pressed her face into the side of his neck.  “You had to grow up fast, didn’t you, luv?” he asked.

       “I did,” she agreed.  “But it led me to this wonderful adventure…in space, no less.  The work I’ve been doing challenges me, fulfills me, and I can’t say I have regretted a moment of it.  It’s something I never could have thought of in my wildest imaginings.  And…”  her words trailed away as she lifted her head to brush her lips to his, enjoying the way they fit so perfectly to her own.  “…it led me to you.  I may be a little broken, but I want to try…to let you in…if you want me.”

       Rush rolled over with her, reversing their positions and stared down into her wide eyes, so filled with uncertainty and just a bit of fear.  She was trying so hard to be brave, to reach out and grab on to what she wanted with both hands.  She was wrapped so firmly about his heart, he’d never be able to let her go.  “I’ve always wanted you, Belle,” he said, tracing the curve of her lips with the pad of his thumb.  “Even when I was trying so hard to push you away.”

       “You’re sure it’s not just because we might die due to some catastrophe that might befall us up here…or because your choices are somewhat limited for companionship?” she asked, looking away as she fought against her insecurities.

       He cradled her face in his hands, forcing her to meet his gaze, his thumbs smoothing over the rose-tinted skin of her cheeks.  “I could be stranded up here with an all-female crew and I’d still not want anyone but you, Belle.  I will always choose you.”

       Her eyes closed as she wrapped her hand around his nape, her fingers twining in the strands of his soft hair, pulling his head down to close the distance between them.  His lips closed over hers almost reverently, gently coaxing the fire that hummed within her into a fiery blaze.  He kissed her as if he loved her and it frightened her with its intensity because she couldn’t return it with equal fervor.  It would take time, but she was willing to try.  She cared for him so deeply, and knew it wouldn’t take long for those feelings to blossom into love.  Then again, she could just be doing what she did best and denying what was in her heart to protect herself.

       With Rush she didn’t have to compete with dark magic, or formidable enemies, or some curse or crisis threatening to pull him away from her.  Of course, there was the animosity that existed between him and the colonel and the threat of limited supplies and malnutrition to deal with, but she felt it was minor in comparison to her life in the Enchanted Forest and later in Storybrooke with Gold.   Rush shared his work with her, his thoughts, his ideas.  But to have his love?  Without any of her previous bad experiences to stand in their way?

       It took her a moment to realize he’d stopped kissing her and she flushed guiltily as she looked up at the concern etched on his face.  “Where’d you go?” he asked, studying her.

       “I’m sorry,” she breathed, offering him an apologetic smile.  “I was just thinking…that if I had to be stuck on an Ancient spaceship billions of light years from Earth…I’m so glad you’re here with me.”  She pulled him back down to her, this time pushing her wayward thoughts to the back of her mind and giving herself over to the pleasure of his kiss.

       He moaned softly as she caught his bottom lip between her teeth and bit gently before sucking it into her mouth.  Her tongue pushed past the ridge of his teeth as his arms crushed her tightly to him, his hands unable to be still as they explored her back, slipping beneath the cream colored sweater she wore to smooth over her bare flesh.  She could feel him holding back, respecting her need to go slow, but at the moment, all she could focus on was how very much she wanted him.  She writhed against his thigh as it slipped between her legs to press against her core, the burning need there more prevalent than her good sense.

      “Belle?  Belle, have you seen Rush?  He’s not answering his radio.”

       “Fucking Hell!” Rush cursed, his head jerking up to glare at the offending walkie talkie he’d removed from Belle’s waistband and shoved under the pillow.  He brushed Belle’s hand aside as she reached for it, taking a moment to trail the flat of his tongue up the length of her neck before biting gently just below her ear.  She bucked against him, her nails scoring his back as he clicked the com button.  “What is it, Eli?” he asked, his voice hoarse and raspy with desire he hoped Eli couldn’t pick up on over the radio.

       “Rush? What are you doing with Belle’s radio---oh, ah, well…” he stammered in embarrassment as realization dawned on him…or more like smacked him upside his brilliant head.

       Belle giggled. She could practically feel the blush heating Eli’s face…and slapped a hand to her mouth to prevent the boy from hearing.Rush sucked her earlobe into his mouth and rubbed his thigh against her core, her laughter morphing into a moan.  He pressed the com button again.  “Whatever crisis has arisen couldn’t have waited for our return to the control room, I take it?”

       “Um…nevermind…I was running diagnostics and we’ve got a problem.  We’re losing water.”

       Rush groaned and pressed his brow to Belle’s shoulder, realizing their time together was at an end.  “I’m sorry, Belle, but…”

       “…we’ve got responsibilities, I know,” she said, kissing the corner of his mouth before she rolled from beneath him to straighten her clothes and gather his shirt and boots.  “Billions of light years from home and I’m still having to suffer interruptions,” she grumbled.

       Rush laid back and cursed fate.  “Eli, we’ll be right there.”

X*X*X*X*X

       Belle groaned as she took the small notepad and took in page after page of algorithms and equations that needed to be entered into the ship’s computer.  At least it would give her something to keep her hands busy while she listened to the colonel’s most recent tirade.   Already she could feel the tension radiating from Rush as she stood at his left elbow at the console.  All of the hard work she’d put in to get him to relax would be for naught if this kept up.

       Young stalked around the center of the control room, and Belle was surprised to see that he’d abandoned his crutch.  Eli leaned on the console across from them, propping his chin in his hand, frowning thoughtfully.  “Maybe it evaporated when we went through the star,” he mused.

       Rush shook his head.  “No, Eli, it’s a closed system.”

       “Besides, if the shield protected us from feeling the heat, you have to realize the temperature couldn’t rise enough to cause evaporation in the tanks,” Belle said absently, her fingers flying over the keyboard.

       “You know, all that water went somewhere.  We’re down to half of what we had when we got here,” Everett growled, looking at each of them in turn before addressing Rush directly.  “You’re the one trying to get the recycling system up and running.  Maybe there’s a leak somewhere.”

“No,” Eli objected.  “The ship says it’s fine.  And Brody has been over the system more than a few times.  He assures us there aren’t any leaks.  It’s solid.”

“If what you’re saying is accurate…” Rush paused, Belle’s rapid keystrokes drawing his attention for a moment.  “Belle, that’s not what I have written…”

“I know.  I fixed it,” she answered, her strokes never ceasing as her eyes moved quickly between his notes and the screen.

Rush gave her a skeptical look as he grabbed her hand to still her movements while he double checked her work.  “Nicely done, Belle,” he said with a small smile, his conversation with the colonel forgotten for the moment.  He looked back up, dragging his gaze away from Belle, to find both men staring at him impatiently.  “As I was saying, if your findings are accurate, then we’ve got a serious problem.”

“Well, we wouldn’t if you did what I asked you to do in the first place,” Young sneered, making another circuit around the room in his agitation.

“Oh, please.  Can we stick to one problem at a time?” Rush asked, rubbing his hands over his face to quell his irritation.

“Running out of water wouldn’t matter if we would just dial Earth and go home,” Young replied, bringing up the same argument that kept him and Rush so at odds.

“Bloody hell, not this again,” Belle mumbled under her breath as she dug into her pocket for a Jolly Rancher.  She hoped the sweet fruity candy would aid in keeping her tongue busy so she wouldn’t give in to her desire to argue with the man.

“I’ve already explained that to you,” Rush said, trying for a patience he was far from feeling.

“The ship’s recharged, the power reserves are full…”

“That’s the point.  They’re not,” the doctor insisted.  “We’re at less than forty percent of their original design capacity.  I—“

The colonel cut him off with a mirthless chuckle.  “Think I can’t tell when somebody just pulls a number out of his ass?”

Rush cast him a look of disgust as he felt Belle bristle at his side.  “What?!”

“Uh, I actually pulled that number out of my ass.  He’s not making it up,” Eli interjected, no more pleased with the colonel than the other two occupants of the room.

Rush sighed, wishing the man would just leave him and his team alone to solve their latest issues.  “Look, if Destiny was ever capable of dialing back to Earth, it was thousands of years ago when the Ancients originally intended to come here, but not now.”  He stared Young down for several minutes before the man finally looked away.

“Have Brody check the system again.  I need to borrow Eli.”

Eli looked back and forth between the scientist and the colonel before following Young from the room.  Belle nudged his shoulder with hers, speaking quietly as she began to enter the calculations into the computer once more.  “Let it go, Nicholas.”

“That man is…”

“…infuriating.  I know,” she said, commiserating with him.  “He’s not happy unless he’s meddling in affairs he has no knowledge of, but he’s our fearless leader after all,” she said, rolling her eyes.  “And we’re subject to his dictates.”

“Belle, even if every member of the crew were dipping into the stores and hoarding it away, it wouldn’t account for the forty thousand liters that have gone missing,” he grumbled, turning to look at her.

She closed his notepad and reached around to tuck it into the back pocket of his jeans, a teasing smile on her lips.  “Regardless, we’re going to have to find out what’s happening to our water supplies before we find a viable planet to resupply.   It would be pointless to refill the tanks and have this happen all over again.”

His arms came around her, steadying her as she swayed on her feet.  The FTL drive had disengaged and the soft tone that echoed through the room alerted them to the countdown clock above the door.  “Are you alright?” he asked, his brow furrowed with concern.  “You get dizzy every time we drop out of FTL.”

“Come on, we need to get to the gate room,” she said, urging him towards the door.  “And don’t worry about me, Nicholas.  I had problems with ear infections when I was a child and I still have trouble with my equilibrium at times.  You’ve commented on my clumsiness enough over the years.”

Rush took her hand, twining his fingers with hers.  “My dear Miss French,” he drawled.  “You may fall into my arms anytime you please.”

X*X*X*X*X

The stargate was already open, the puddle shimmering with a faint glow when Belle and Rush entered the gate room and moved to the primary console.  Eli stood next to Riley at the other, a Kino remote clasped in his hands.  He’d already sent the Kino through the wormhole and was just waiting for the data to come across the screen on the remote so he could send it to the console.  Belle surreptitiously surveyed the occupants of the room from beneath her lashes, her eyes narrowing as she noticed the sly knowing looks some of the crew members were casting in her direction.

Rush felt her tense beside him, her attention clearly focused away from the data scrolling across the screen.  “Belle, what is it?” he asked, frowning.

“Nothing…yet,” she replied evasively.  She turned her gaze to the data and gave it her full attention, making it clear she would say nothing more for the time being.  “What have we got?”

“There’s only one planet in range.  We’re getting readings now,” he said, not liking what the computer was providing for them.

The footage from the Kino gave a clear picture of the area surrounding the gate, a snowstorm raging violently.  Eli groaned.  “Whoa!  Looks like we entered the Hoth system!”  He rolled his eyes when he was met with silence and dubious looks.  “Empire Strikes Back?  The second Star Wars movie?  Oh come on!”

Belle shook her head with an indulgent smile playing at her lips.  Rush shared a frustrated glance with the colonel and read off the planet’s properties.  “Minus forty-seven degrees Celsius.”

“Is that water ice?” Eli asked, interrupting.

Belle frowned.  “Yes, but the atmosphere’s dangerously thin.  And poisonous.  Point one three percent molecular oxygen, ninety five percent carbon dioxide with a hint of argon.  Nasty stuff!” she said, wrinkling her nose.

“Yes, but it’s the only planet in range and we have little choice,” Rush said, archiving a copy of the data into the database.

Young seemed to visibly relax now that an end to their crisis was in sight.  “We’re gonna have to use the spacesuits we found, but if that brings back half a ton of ice, I’ll take it.  Shut the gate down for now while we suit up.”  He lifted the radio from his belt and called for Scott, ordering him to the gate room to prepare.

“Don’t even think about it, Belle,” Rush growled near her ear.

“Don’t know what you’re referring to, Nicholas,” she answered with wide innocent cerulean eyes.

“You’re not going.”

“I didn’t ask to go.”

“You’re thinking about it,” he said with a wry twist of his lips.

“The thought never even crossed my mind.”  No matter how much she was looking forward to her first trip off world, she didn’t want her first foray to be closed up in a space suit.  She wanted to feel the breeze on her skin and the sun shining in her hair…and Nicholas at her side with his warm palm pressed to hers.

Rush snorted and switched off the gate.

X*X*X*X*X

       Belle stifled a yawn and sipped at the dwindling reserves in her canteen as she pulled up the schematic of the ship and isolated the section Rush had shown interest in exploring when they had time.  If they ever had time when something wasn’t demanding their immediate attention.  The colonel and Scott had donned the Ancient spacesuits and gone down to the planet.  They had eight hours of air and eleven hours until the ship jumped back into FTL, so that should be plenty of time to gather the ice needed to replenish the tanks and get back.  Rush hadn’t been happy to learn the ice near the gate was toxic and the two man team would have to venture farther afield, worried over the time it would take to transport the ice back to the gate.  Thankfully, Eli had solved that problem by rigging a sled with Kino’s supporting it.  The contraption hovered several feet above the ground and would hold a sizeable load for transport.

       Rush was still in a bad mood, seething that the colonel had left TJ in charge while he and Scott were off on the planet.  Which was why she’d left him in the gate room and returned to the control interface to put some much needed distance between them before his disagreeable temper could spill over onto her.  She’d scolded herself for abandoning him to his work, but she wanted to cling to the wealth of feelings he’d stirred in her earlier for just a bit longer.  A steady hum of pleasure still burned in her veins and she sighed, wishing she’d turned her radio off when she’d had the chance.  The actuality of being in Rush’s arms was so much more heady than what she’d experienced in her dreams of him and she wanted more.

       She was pulled from her reverie by Greer’s clear voice coming over her radio.  “Miss Belle, TJ wants Spencer taken into custody until the colonel returns.  Any idea where we might lock him up?”

       Belle groaned and rubbed a hand over her face before entering commands on her keyboard to pull up a schematic of the ship.  “Hang on, Ronald, I’m looking.  What did he do this time?”

       “Hoarding.  We found food and water rations in his quarters.  He claims he brought them over when we boarded, but you know his excuses don’t hold weight,” the master sergeant said over the ranting Spencer was doing in the background.

       Her opinion of the marine sergeant dipped another twenty points.  Everyone was suffering due to the lack of supplies, yet in his greed, he was only making matters worse.  “Ronald, there’s a holding area on C deck not too far from the storage tanks.  You could probably hold him there until Young gets back.  The rooms cannot be opened from the inside, so you probably wouldn’t even have to post a guard.”

       “Will do, Miss Belle, thank you.  Greer out.”

       The quiet of the control room soothed her as she stretched her arms above her head.  It could be somewhat eerie without the hum of the FTL drive after growing so accustomed to it, but she liked it.  She propped her chin in her hand as she sat forward on her stool and tried to focus on the screen, her eyes drooping sleepily as the data whirred by.  She was nearly asleep when the radio chirped again, TJ’s soft voice almost a whisper as it came over the open channel.

       “Belle, Eli, Rush, anyone…”

       “TJ what’s wrong?” Belle asked, all traces of sleep banished as she heard the nervousness in her friend’s voice.

       “I don’t know…yet.  Do you have a Kino anywhere down here on C that you can send to my location?” the medic asked, trying to keep the note of fear from carrying over the radio.

       Belle rapidly flipped through several screens until she could access the Kino near the storage tanks that held their water supply.  “I do, TJ, where are you?”

       “North corridor.  Hurry.”

       Belle lifted the remote in her hands after linking it to the footage on her console and sent the Kino flying off in TJ’s direction, slowing it moments before it collided with the back of her head.  She stopped it altogether to hover over the medic’s left shoulder.  Belle gasped, staring at the screen.  “What the hell is that?” she asked, “It looks like a miniature sandstorm.”

       “There’s no wind to make it swirl like that,” TJ said, taking a cautious step forward towards the vortex.  “It’s not sand, either.  More like tiny flying…creatures.”

       As Belle watched through the Kino’s camera, the particles swirled and slowly formed into a semi-solid shape, mimicking TJ’s face.  “Meet me in the gate room.  We need to tell Rush.”

       The swarm swirled again and moved off down the corridor, disappearing from view and TJ relaxed, nodding as she moved away to meet Belle.

       Belle was nearly running when she reached the gate room and almost collided with Rush as she halted next to his console.  Young’s voice could be heard over the com link, cheerful with the news he was imparting.  “Destiny, this is Young.  We’ve got pure ice.”

       Rush nodded in relief as he stared down at the console, holding up a hand asking his assistant to wait until the link was severed.  “That’s excellent news.”

       “It’s a frozen waterfall.  We should be able to break it up into manageable pieces and haul it back,” the colonel said.

       Rush turned and glanced at the countdown clock above the doorway, noting they had plenty of time.  “We’ll be ready for you.”  He turned to Belle.  “What’s wrong?”

       “Why does something always have to be wrong?” she asked defensively, smirking wryly.  “Never mind.”

       TJ and Eli, whom she’d met in the corridor in her trek to the gate room, joined the scientist, crowding around his console.  “Did you tell him?”

       “Tell me what?” he asked irritably, crossing his arms over his chest as he sat back on his stool.

       TJ briefly explained what she’d seen as Belle brought up the Kino footage on the console to show them.  Eli stared at them in horror.  “So what are we talking about? Like, one little cloud of bugs, or are they all over the ship?” he asked.

       TJ shrugged.  “I’m not even sure that bugs is the right word for them.”

       “Ha!” the boy exclaimed excitedly.  “What about cloud?”

       Belle shushed him.  “Eli!  Keep your voice down. We do not need to incite a panic.”

       “Well, except the cloud was alive.  It was almost like thousands of tiny…” the medic paused, searching for the right word to describe what she’d seen.  “…alien creatures.”

       Rush nodded calmly, listening attentively.  Eli shifted, looking nervously at each of them in turn.  He nodded his head fervently.  “Yeah, I have a problem with everything you just said.”

       “What you’ve just described is, uh…well, it’s the same as Lt Scott claimed he saw on the desert planet,” Rush said quietly.

       TJ agreed.  “That’s what I was thinking and maybe some of them followed him back here.”

“We’d have noticed them,” Eli argued.

Belle tilted her head to the side, lost in thought.  “No, not if only a few came through the gate.  They’re like tiny grains of sand.”

“And then what?” Eli asked dubiously.  “Started reproducing?”

TJ rubbed at her temples.  “Well, if it’s a living organism, then yeah, they would.”

Eli paced anxiously before the console, unable to keep still a moment longer.  “Ok, so now we’ve got aliens.  What if they start bursting out of our stomachs?”

Belle leaned over to whisper in Rush’s ear.  “Is that another of his movie references?”

Rush shrugged, never having been a movie buff.  He had always been too consumed with his work to enjoy the mindless activity of watching television or going to the movies.

“I don’t think they’re dangerous.  It almost felt like they were trying to communicate.”

“Lt. Scott used the same word,” Rush stated.

Eli snorted.  “Yeah.  At the time, you said he was delirious.”

“Well, I was wrong, Eli,” the doctor hissed.  Turning to TJ he asked, “What do you intend to do?”

“Well, I guess we should stop everyone from wandering around the ship,” she said hesitantly, hating the role of leadership Young had thrust upon her.

Rush rose from his seat and stepped away so she would have access to the console to make her announcement.  His brows rose in surprise as she finished and stepped back.  “You’re not going to tell them?”

“That we have aliens?” Eli voiced in a snarky tone.

“I think it will be better if we don’t…for now,” she said and turned on her heel to find Greer.

Eli clucked his tongue in disgust.  “You people are always finding a reason to lie.  It’s not right.”

Belle started after the boy as he stalked away, but Rush’s warm fingers wrapped around her wrist, pulling her back to his side.  “Let him go, Belle.  Give him time to cool off.”

“He doesn’t understand,” she said wearily, leaning a hip against the console.

“He will,” Rush assured her.  “He’s honorable and good and only wants to do the right thing, but eventually he’s going to have to face the harsh reality that you can’t always trust in full disclosure, that it’s for the greater good to keep people in the dark.  It comes part and parcel with any military operation to keep panic to a minimum.”

X*X*X*X*X

       Rush stared down at the offending protein bar Belle pressed into his hand and stifled a groan.  The damn things tasted like sawdust.  At least she’d just refilled her canteen and set it to the side of the console so he’d be able to wash it down.  Greer and Eli had a small contingent of soldiers offloading the ice from the Kino sled and she’d taken the opportunity of his distraction to cajole him into eating something.  Instead, he slipped the bar into the back pocket of his jeans for later.

       Belle had other ideas, however, shaking her head and grabbing for it.  She peeled back the wrapper, giving him no choice, and pressed it back into his hand, the look on her face daring him to argue with her.  “Eat, Nicholas.  It’s either this or the sludge; take your pick, but you are going to eat.”

       He opened his mouth to argue, but before he could protest, she snatched the bar from his hand and stuffed the end into his mouth.  “Damn bossy female,” he grumbled around the mouthful of protein bar, feeling as if he’d choke on the dry sustenance.

       “That’s why I get paid the big bucks,” she snarked, handing him the canteen.

       “Destiny, this is Young.  How’s it going up there?  Hurry it up. We wanna do one more run,” came the colonel’s voice over the com link.

       “We’re offloading the sled now,” Belle said, taking the canteen from Rush as he hurriedly finished off his dinner.

       Eli came over and leaned on the front of the console, rubbing his hands together to warm them and restore the feeling to his numb fingers, Greer having already sent the sled back through the wormhole for another load.

       “Just so you know, uh, another matter has come up, Colonel Young.  We have it under control,” Rush said, grimacing at the bit of food that seemed to be stuck in his throat.

       Eli took that opportunity to voice his own view of the situation.  “We have aliens on the ship.  They just shredded Gorman.”

       “WHAT?!” Young growled.  “What the hell does that mean?”

       “Millions of tiny flying razor blades floating around the ship like piranha,” Eli said, waving his hands exuberantly.

       Rush’s lips curled over his lips as his teeth gnashed together in vexation.  “Corporal Gorman is alive.  Lt. Johansen is attending to him now.”

       Eli ignored the doctor’s glare and leaned over the console to make sure the colonel heard him.  “He’s probably not gonna make it.”

       Belle cut him a heated look, the warning clear in her eyes.  “Eli, stop.”

       “That’s it.  We’re coming back,” Young said with a weary sigh.

       Rush leaned on the console, his irritation growing.  “No, no, no, that’s not necessary, Colonel.  Eli is overreacting.  We believe the creatures are the same as those Lt Scott encountered on the desert planet.  They must have followed us back through the gate.”

       Scott’s voice filtered through the link.  “No, I doubt those things I saw were dangerous, sir.  They helped me.”

       “Gorman may have provoked them.  We’ll know more once he comes to,” Rush said.

       “If he comes to,” Eli grumbled under his breath.

Rush continued as if he hadn’t just been interrupted.  “In the meantime,” he stressed with a cold look at the boy genius.  “Lt Johansen has ordered everyone to remain in their quarters.  They’re nothing more than a nuisance at this point, Colonel, but we desperately need more ice.”

The colonel agreed that they’d deal with it when he and Scott returned to the ship and Rush disconnected the link, glaring at Eli as he did so.  “You're gonna have to learn when to shut up,” the doctor hissed.

       Belle’s gaze swung between the two, her own irritation growing.  Rush was being overly harsh with the boy and Eli was firm in his belief that the lies needed to stop.

       “You can’t just lie to the guy and expect me to…”

       Rush cut him off.  “Once back into FTL, it could be days before we find another planet capable of replenishing our water supplies.  This ice represents a fraction of what we need to stay alive.  We need more.”

“Yeah, I know, but that doesn’t mean that you can…”

       “…Yes, it does!” Rush insisted, talking over the boy.  “Just stop acting like a child, please.”

       “Enough, you two!” Belle chimed in, making a timeout gesture as she stepped between them.  “Off to your respective corners.”

       Rush continued to glare at the younger man, feeling slightly guilty at the shock and hurt written clearly on Eli’s face.  He was the first to break their stare-off, turning on his heel to return to the control interface room.  “Belle,” he called over his shoulder without turning to see if she were following.

       “We’ll be there in a bit, Rush,” she said calmly, her voice flat.  There was no use in antagonizing him in front of his protégé.  His shoulders tensed visibly as he stalked off down the corridor.

       Belle linked her arm through Eli’s and smiled kindly up into his cherubic face, leading him slowly from the gate room.  Their slow pace would hopefully give both him and Rush a chance to cool off.  “Eli, don’t let Rush get to you,” she said hesitantly.  “But you also have to understand his point of view.”

       “Belle, he’s lying!  I can’t condone what he’s—“

       She cut him off with a shake of her head.  “He’s not lying, Eli.  He’s withholding information with the intention to tell the Colonel upon his return.  They are off on that planet trying to secure supplies we need to survive.  They’re in a very precarious position doing so and they don’t need the added stress of what’s going on here.”  She squeezed his arm reassuringly when he didn’t answer.  “He has all of our best interests at heart.  Don’t let his rough exterior sour your disposition towards him.  We all have to work together.”

       “It’s still not right,” he grouched.

       “Things are not always black and white, Eli.  You have to consider the grey areas in-between.”  She gently urged him into the control room and took in the doctor’s stiff posture where he hunched over his console.   “Nicholas, might I have a word out in the corridor?” she asked, her resolve firm as she noticed Rush’s hostile gaze.

       He didn’t protest, however, as he followed her from the room.  “Yes, Miss French?” he asked, his voice colder than it had been in a long while.

       Belle bristled, her eyes narrowing.  “Don’t you Miss French me, Nicholas Rush.  Especially after you’ve had your tongue in my mouth,” she hissed in an angry whisper as she backed him up against the bulkhead, so close she could feel the heat radiating from his skin.

       His eyes flared hotly, but he didn’t acknowledge her statement, knowing that topic would be better discussed behind closed doors…and without so many clothes.  “Belle, he’s being unreasonable.  He—“

       “No, he’s not.  Nicholas, he was taken…quite literally, I might add…from his home and put into this situation by our military against his will.  He’s unfamiliar with procedure and proper protocol and doing the very best he can.  You can’t just talk to him as if his opinions or ideas don’t matter.”

Rush took her hands in his, sighing heavily when she slid her warm palms over his.  “He’s going to have to learn, Belle.  He can’t go running off to Young every time he doesn’t agree with me,” he said, gentling his tone with her.  “Our survival rests on those supplies.  They don’t need to be distracted while they’re down there.”

       “I know, and I agree with your reasons if not your tactics.  He looks up to you, Nicholas.  Don’t ruin a good working relationship with him because of your temper,” she said softly, brushing the hair away from his eyes, her hand coming to rest against his unshaven cheek.  “All I’m asking is that you try.”

       He leaned into her touch, briefly closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.  “Belle, I can’t make any promises.  This mission is too important to coddle the boy.”

       “And I’m not asking you to,” she assured him.  “But if you don’t make a better effort to get along, you’ll have two options.  He will either work with you or against you.  It’s your choice.”  She gave him a long searching look and then turned on her heel to return to the control room, leaving him to think about what she’d said.

X*X*X*X*X

“Do you really think it’s a good idea to let Ronald run about with a flamethrower…a homemade one at that?” Belle asked as she peered nervously at the screen on the console where she sat next to Rush.  “He’s enjoying himself far too much, in my opinion.”

He snorted, choking back a chuckle.  “Well, he’s got the bugs trapped now in one of the storage rooms,” Rush said, entering the command into the computer and sealing off the ventilation in the room.

“Yeah, but how long is that going to hold them?  They’ve been gobbling up our resources at an alarming rate…and multiplying.  We’ve got to find a more permanent solution,” she said, watching anxiously as the swarm began searching for a way out of the room.

“TJ, Rush…” the colonel’s voice carried over the com link, a slightly breathless note in his usually deep baritone.

“Yes, Colonel, we’re all here,” Rush answered as TJ and Eli crowded in around his console on either side of him and Belle.

“We’ve got a problem.  Scott and I were on our way back and he fell through the ice into a crevasse.  He’s wedged in there pretty good.”

“That doesn’t sound too bad,” Eli said with a shrug of his shoulders.  “We still have time on the clock before we jump.”

“Eli, it’s not as simple as that,” the colonel cut in.  “During the last tremor, I think the ice tore a hole in his suit.  He’s losing pressure.  Scott says it’s hissing out pretty steadily.”

Belle covered her mouth with a shaking hand, comforted somewhat when Rush slipped his fingers around her other one.  “An hour at most,” he whispered quietly to Belle.  He pressed the com button.  “Colonel, you have to consider the amount of time you have left now.”

“I’m aware of the damned time, Rush,” Young snarled angrily.

“All I’m saying is that if you delay much longer…”

“Listen to me.  I know exactly what you’re saying and I’m not going anywhere without Lt Scott, and that’s the way it’s gonna be!”

A new voice sounded angrily behind them and they turned to find Chloe standing frozen behind them, her hands clenched into fists and her eyes flashing with stunned outrage.  “What is the matter with you?” she hissed, her eyes shooting icy daggers at Rush.

Rush flushed in surprise.  “Miss Armstrong.  You should return to your quarters,” he said awkwardly.

“And you know where you can go.”

Rush turned back to the console, refusing to get into an argument with the overwrought girl.  “Look, Colonel, I understand your desire to rescue Lt Scott, of course.  But only you can decide how much time you have left.  Lieutenant,” he said, addressing Scott directly.  “If Colonel Young remains there trying to free you, to pull you up by himself, there’s a chance he might not make it back.”  He squeezed Belle’s hand, leaning over to whisper.  “How is Park coming with the other suit?”

“She stopped working on it when I confined everyone to quarters,” TJ said.

“Just keep the gate active, Rush.  We’re gonna make it back in time with your damn ice, which is all you really care about,” the colonel snapped.

“Colonel—“ Rush protested, but the man had already severed the link.

“How can you have such little regard for human life?” Chloe asked, tugging on Rush’s shoulder until he turned to face her.  “He’s one of us!  He’s doing the best he can…” she said, pausing as a sob rose in her throat to choke her.  “He didn’t ask to be here.”

Belle pushed to her feet, a sympathetic smile on her lips.  “Chloe, none of us asked to be here, but we have to think about this from a logical standpoint.  We cannot sacrifice everyone for one—“

“Of course you’d defend his actions, no matter how deplorable they may be…now that you’re sleeping with him.” Chloe sneered at Rush’s assistant, all former lines of friendship crossed in light of those hasty words.

Eli nearly choked on his tongue as he stared in horror at the senator’s daughter, but Rush’s gaze never wavered from Belle.  He could feel the cold fury emanating from her petite frame as her brow raised higher and higher by the second.  TJ stood frozen, waiting for the other shoe to drop and Belle to lose her temper.

Belle advanced slowly on the taller girl, her hand wrapping around Chloe’s wrist in a painful grip.  “I think we need to have a little chat, dearie,” she said with no hint of the sweet woman she projected to everyone.

“Uh…Rush?” Eli asked, his worried gaze trained on the doorway where Belle and Chloe had disappeared.  “Should we…maybe…go after them?  Chloe’s a bit bigger than Belle.”

Rush snorted as he turned back to his console, schooling his features into a bland mask so as not to betray the anxiety rising in his chest.  “It’s not Belle you should be worried about, Eli.  Best we get back to work.  I’m sure they’ll work out their differences.”

TJ shook her head.  “I’m going down to help Greer with our bug problem.”

“What are you going to do?” Eli asked, following her as far as the door.

“I have an idea.”

X*X*X*X*X

       Belle didn’t slow her furious stride until she reached the observation deck, thankful TJ had confined everyone to quarters so the room would be cleared of those who tended to congregate in the cavernous room in the evenings.  She let go of Chloe’s wrist as they crossed the threshold and palmed the door lock, the great doors whooshing shut behind them.  The younger girl was breathing heavily whereas Belle hadn’t even broken a sweat.  But then, Belle had conditioned her body through her hobby of long runs around the Berkeley campus and later through her sessions with Greer.  Both were great stress relievers and now she found herself thankful for taking the time to put her body through the grueling workouts.

Her voice was calm when she spoke to the girl and only one who knew her well would be able to hear the underlying fury.  “This habit you’ve developed of attacking Dr. Rush needs to stop.”

“He wants to leave Matt on the planet!” Chloe said defensively, crossing her arms over her chest.

“He knew the risks when he went down there.  Would you have us lose the colonel as well should he indeed remain there to rescue him?” Belle asked, glaring stoically at the girl.  “Choose, Chloe.”

Chloe shook her head, angry tears washing down her ashen face.  “It’s not the first time he’s tried to play God with all of our lives and you’ll go along with whatever St. Rush throws your way,” she said bitterly, thinking of his cold disregard when the senator had sacrificed himself to give them another day to solve the problems with the life support system.

“NO!  I’m thinking of this from Rush’s point of view.  You are thinking like a woman in love.  The ice is necessary to the survival of the eighty or so people aboard this ship.  It is imperative that it reaches us.  If Young stays to rescue your boyfriend, who suffers? The crew for certain as we slowly die of dehydration, but also Scott who cannot be helped at the moment and Young because of his stubbornness.”

The fight went out of the girl and she collapsed onto a bench near the center of the room, giving into her anguish.  Belle felt a moment of empathy with the girl, putting herself in Chloe’s shoes.  If Rush were trapped, well…she refused to think on that.  She’d been through enough with Gold.  She wouldn’t put herself through unnecessary anguish thinking what if.

She moved to sit beside the girl and wrapped an arm about her shoulders, pulling her to rest against her shoulder as she cried.  “Chloe, Colonel Young is doing everything he can to free Scott.  You just have to have faith,” she said gently, remembering Snow and Emma and their unfailing faith in their family.

Belle pulled a grape Jolly Rancher from her pocket and pressed it into Chloe’s hand as her sobs subsided into a few sniffles.  The girl smiled, her lower lip quivering slightly as she unwrapped the candy and slipped it into her mouth.  “I’m sorry…for what I said to you back there.  I didn’t mean…”

“Sure you did,” Belle deadpanned, stroking the girl’s ebony locks.  “You meant every word and you know it, but it’s nice to hear you say otherwise.”

“How can you be so nice and still tolerate Rush?” Chloe asked, incredulously as she lifted her head from Belle’s shoulder to meet the woman’s gaze.

Belle huffed a short laugh.  “You don’t know him like I do.  Few people do,” she admitted ruefully.  “After he lost his wife, he only got worse and for a while the only time he would even speak to me was about our work.  It took him a long time to get better.  Grief can do terrible things to a person.”  She was silent for a long moment.  “Nicholas is like a cactus, for lack of a better reference.  He’s prickly on the outside with a softness beneath.”

Chloe snorted.  “You’re an odd woman, Belle.  And I am truly sorry for what I said in the control room.  I had just come in to see if maybe you’d heard something about Matt…and Rush…I was just so angry to hear him say what he did.”

“I know,” Belle said, reassuring the girl.  “But can I ask you what made you think Nicholas and I are sleeping together in the first place?”

Chloe blushed, staring down at her feet.  “I…um…well the way you two were kissing in here yesterday.  I just assumed…”

Belle bit down thoughtfully on her lip, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.  “Well, we’re not.”

“Yet,” Chloe teased, bumping her shoulder with Belle’s.

“Perhaps,” Belle relented.  “But that’s not something that is anyone’s business.  The entire bloody ship doesn’t need to know.”

“Miss French!”  Belle cringed as she heard that irritated voice screech through her radio.  “Where are you?”

“Observation deck,” she answered.

“The bugs have been dealt with and Colonel Young is on his way back to the ship with Lt Scott.  Gate room…now!  Rush out.”

Chloe’s smile was blinding as she heard the news and took off at a run.  Belle’s exhaustion prevented such a pace for her now that their crisis was nearing an end and followed at a more sedate walk.  She was glad, however, that she and the girl had been able to talk through their problems instead of letting them fester and breed more ill feelings.

The Kino sled was being unloaded when she finally entered the gate room and sat down on the stool next to the console, ignoring Rush’s scowl.  She yawned widely and propped her chin in her hand as she watched Scott being taken to the infirmary.  “What’d I miss?” she asked, yawning again, her eyes drooping heavily.  “How did TJ get rid of the bugs?”

       “It was really rather clever of her.  She had Riley and Dunning wheel a large barrel of water down to where we’d sealed them off.  When she had us open the door, they went for the water and she sealed them inside long enough to send the barrel through the gate,” he said, consulting his notepad before entering several commands into the computer.

       “And Scott?” she asked, her voice slurred with sleep as she rested her head on her folded arms.

       “A tremor caused a shift in the terrain and loosened enough to free him.  The colonel was able to pull him up and load him onto the sled to drag him back to the gate.  He’ll be fine,” he said, explaining what had gone on while she’d been settling her differences with Chloe.  “And what of Miss Armstrong?  Have you mended your fences?  Belle?” he asked when she didn’t answer.

A small smile curved up the corner of his mouth as he looked down at his Belle, sound asleep on one corner of the console.  It wasn’t the first time she’d lost her battle with fatigue after a long day of working at his side, and surely it wouldn’t be the last, but this was the first time he’d be able to put her to bed without having to disturb her rest.  He shoved his notepad into the back pocket of his jeans and lifted her into his arms with all the care he could muster, hardly jostling her in the process.

He carried her down the long corridor until he gained the hallway where their quarters were located, pausing a moment to debate whether or not she’d want to sleep with him or her own room.  This new phase of their relationship was too new and he hoarded it almost jealously…and it’s not like she was awake to argue or protest…and he wasn’t the type to molest her while she slumbered.  He threw his shoulder into the door lock and carried her into his quarters, laying her gently on the bed, removing the radio from her waistband and sliding her sandals from her feet, taking in the red painted toes with a chuckle.  Within moments he had her tucked under the blankets in the center of the bed and she let out a soft snuffle as she turned her face into the pillow.   

Rush toed off his boots and socks and pulled the long sleeved t-shirt over his head, tossing it onto the end of the bed for tomorrow.  He laid his radio on the nightstand next to hers and slid under the duvet with her, realizing just how tired he was himself.  It had been too long since he’d been able to rest properly and he had a feeling having Belle beside him would provide the best rest he’d had in well…forever.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Well, I hope you enjoyed this week’s installment. I struggled with this chapter, I’ll have you know. It’s definitely not one of my favorites in the series. Next week: Things heat up, issues are dealt with and Telford boards Destiny via the stones to stir up trouble. As always, thank you for all the Kudos and comments. They make my muse VERY happy :D
> 
> Also...i don't know what's up with the formatting but it's pissing me off!!! It was perfect on MS word!!! RAWR!!!


	7. Earth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: There’s a bit of smut in this chapter, so if that’s not your thing, just skip it.

 

Rush grunted softly as Belle shifted in her sleep, dragging him out of his own slumber.  Her nose brushed against his collarbone and her hair tickled at his upper lip, causing him to smile and tighten his arms about her, one hand slipping beneath her thin sweater to caress her lower back above the waistband of her yoga pants.  He couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept so peacefully, not counting the ten hours he’d gotten day before yesterday when he’d had no choice and his body had forced it upon him.  He somehow found that if he was forced to drag himself away from his work to sleep, he didn’t mind it quite so much as long as Belle was wrapped so securely around him.  He glanced at his watch in the dim blue light streaming in through the porthole.  One hour before they needed to start their shift.  Surprisingly, he wasn’t in any hurry to find his way to the control interface room and begin the day.  He’d much rather remain where he was with Belle’s warm breath fanning hotly against his bare skin, her small hands trapped between them and curled into his chest, and her thigh between his own, pressed firmly against his burgeoning erection.

Rush trailed his fingertips along her arm and over her shoulder, pausing to run his thumb over the sensitive flesh below her ear, smiling smugly when she shifted restlessly against him, a soft moan escaping her parted lips.  Slowly, he tilted her chin up, his hand cradling her face reverently as his lips closed over hers.  Her eyes flew open, wide cerulean orbs filled with fear, her entire body tensing for fight and flight before recognition washed over her and she relaxed once more, her soft curves melding into his lean lines.

“Nicholas…” she breathed happily against his lips, her short nails scratching lightly against his bare chest as she rubbed her knee gently over his denim-clad crotch.  Then it was his turn to moan, the sound lost as his tongue glided over her lower lip.  “How’d we get here?” she asked when he released his claim on her mouth to trail his lips along her jaw.

“You fell asleep on the console in the gate room, so I brought you to bed,” he explained simply as he pressed his brow to hers.  “You should have told me you were so tired, Belle.  I wouldn’t have asked you to continue working.”

Belle freed one of her hands from their prison against his chest and snaked it into his hair, her fingers curling in the soft strands.  “You didn’t.  I chose to work.  What can I say,” she said, nipping lightly at his lower lip.  “You’re a bad influence and are quickly turning me into a workaholic.”

“You need more rest,” he insisted, kissing her again.

“Hello, pot,” she teased, giggling as he rubbed his cheek against hers, his stubble tickling her tender flesh.

“I’m serious.  We’ll have to endeavor to make certain we both get enough rest,” he said, sincere in his vow to take care of her.  If she insisted on working the same hours as he did, he would just have to make sure those hours weren’t longer than what she could endure.  He could only hope that he didn’t get so lost in his work that he didn’t notice when her energy was failing her.

A lazy smile curled upon her lips as she stretched against him, her slow careful movements deliberately provoking his desire.  “Speaking of work…”

His hands wandered over her hips and over the curve of her behind, pulling her flush against him with a low rumble of pleasure.  “We have time,” he murmured, claiming her lips once more.

“Rush!  It’s about damn time I found you,” came an irritable voice from the now open doorway.

Belle buried her head against Rush’s shoulder, biting her lip to prevent the curses from spilling out from between her teeth as Rush turned his patented death glare upon the colonel, wishing the man to be cursed with the vilest tortures of the damned.  “Did your mother never teach you simple etiquette, Colonel?  Perhaps the courtesy of knocking upon someone’s door before barging in unannounced?” he asked in an icy tone as he tossed the coverlet off and swung his legs over the side of the bed.

“You weren’t answering your radio,” he said as if that was explanation enough for his rudeness. He cast a glance towards the bed where Belle had pushed herself into a sitting position.  “And neither was Belle.  Of course, as secretive as you two are, no one had a clue as to where the two of you had procured quarters for yourselves.  I’ve been searching for the better part of an hour!”

“Eli, Greer, and TJ know where our quarters are located.  You could have asked any of them, Colonel,” Belle said dryly.  “Or were you in too much of a hurry to bother?”

“Eli just said you had chosen quarters on this side of the ship, not which one of many you’d selected,” he said, scowling at Rush’s assistant.

Rush crossed his arms over his bare chest, his glare darkening dangerously as he listened to the exchange, his frustration growing exponentially.  “Will we be getting to the point of your visit sometime before the new millennium, Colonel?” he asked tersely.

Belle huffed an irritated sigh and climbed out of the warm bed, padding barefoot to the door.  At Rush’s arched brow she merely mumbled, “Shower,” and left the room, not in the mood for one of their arguments.

Rush rolled his eyes at the colonel and retrieved the forest green long-sleeved tee he’d worn the day before, pulling it over his head.  Young cleared his throat, opting for a civil tone.  “Look, Camille and I are using the stones this morning to check in with Homeworld command.  She needs to meet with her supervisors with the IOA and I need to fill O’Neil in on what’s going on.  We’d like you to come with us.”

“No.”

“I know McKay and Jackson are very interest--,” he continued, expecting no less than Rush’s acquiescence to his request.  “Wait, what?  What do you mean no?”

“Last I checked, Colonel Young, I wasn’t suffering from a speech impediment and unless you just don’t know the definition of the word…”

“I know what no means, Rush,” Everett growled.  “Why the hell won’t you go?”

Rush’s teeth gnashed together in vexation, his lips curling up into a sneer.  “Why? Because the one and only time I chose to use the stones, I had the misfortune of switching with Dr. Christopher Peirce and returned to my body to find him sexually harassing Belle,” he hissed angrily.  “There’s no need for me to return to Earth at the present.”  He didn’t mention that he didn’t trust his superiors at Homeworld Command not to hold him hostage in order to send one of their people in his place.  He’d be captive in a strange body and a billion light years away from his work…and his Belle.  There wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell of him touching those stones any time in the near future.

Young frowned, shaking his head.  “Why is this the first I’ve heard of this?  The man needs to be reported.”

“Well, we’ve been a bit busy, in case you haven’t noticed.  Everyone knows what a sexual deviant Pierce is, yet no one has been able to make any of the charges stick against him.  He’s too well connected.  Besides, Belle doesn’t want to pursue it as long as the man is not allowed on board Destiny again.  You might want to bring that up in your debriefing with the general,” Rush said through clenched teeth, trying to reign in his temper where the other scientist was concerned.  “Was there anything else, Colonel?”

Young shifted uncomfortably as he pursed his lips, wondering how to broach the next topic without having the doctor’s Scottish temper flare to dangerous proportions.  “Yes.  Do you think it wise to get involved with your assistant?” he asked.  There…he’d said it.  He forced himself not to take a step back as Rush’s eyes darkened and narrowed menacingly.

**  
  
**

“I believe we’ve already had this conversation, Colonel Young.  What Belle and I do in our down time is no one’s concern but our own,” he said, his lips pressed into a thin line of displeasure.

“It does when it affects everyone aboard this ship.”  Young held up a hand to stave off the angry tirade he felt would be forthcoming.  “Don’t get me wrong, Rush.  I don’t have anything against your relationship with Belle.  Whatever floats your boat, man, but if things turn sour, your little assistant has the means to fly us directly into the first black hole she comes across.”

Rush felt his lips twitch with suppressed laughter.  “No, Colonel, she wouldn’t take out her anger on the entire crew.  She’d probably be more inclined to lock me in my quarters and vent the atmosphere.”

Young gaped at the scientist.  “Rush—“

“I really wouldn’t want to keep you from your meeting,” Rush said, giving the man a pointed look to alert him to the fact that their conversation was over.  “And I have several matters that require my attention before the beginning of my shift.”

Everett shook his head in exasperation as Rush followed him out into the corridor.  “Are you sure you won’t reconsider coming with us?”

Rush arched a brow, crossing his arms over his chest.  “No.”

Young simply nodded and turned on his heel, disappearing around the corner with one last shout of “Keep your damn radio on!”

Rush pivoted on his heel to return to his quarters to find his boots when Belle’s growl of frustration filtered beneath the bathroom door.

“Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me!”

A frown furrowed his brow as he quickly made his way to the frosted glass doors, pausing a moment to knock.  “Belle!  What’s wrong?”  He heard more curses…in French, English, and Ancient…and something that sounded like worst bloody timing in the history of womankind.  “Are you alright?”

“Nicholas!” came her panicked reply.  “Can you do me a favor and go into my quarters and fetch that little pink box out of my rucksack, please?”

He nodded and then realized that she wouldn’t be able to see him through the door.  “Aye, I’ll fetch it,” he called and turned on his bare heel to collect her mysterious box.  He palmed the door lock and swept into the dark room, the only light filtering into the room, that of the blue FTL lights that surrounded Destiny.  Her bright red rucksack wasn’t hard to locate.  It was in the same spot on her bed where she’d abandoned it days ago.  Her bed had yet to be slept in since nearly every moment had been spent at his side, including the two nights she’d fallen asleep in his bed.  A smug smile curved his lips when he couldn’t find a reason to be sorry for that small fact.  If he had his way, she would continue to sleep in his bed.

He pushed his errant imaginings aside and dug into the bag until he found the pink box…or what he thought was pink in the dim light.  He took a more careful look at the item in his hands once he gained the corridor.  His step faltered when he realized what she’d sent him after…and he groaned.  “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” he cursed, staring down in befuddled disgust at the box of tampons.  He very nearly dropped the damn thing.  And she’d sent him for the box so she wouldn’t have to come out and tell him the problem.  “Subtle, Miss French, very subtle.”

X*X*X*X*X

Belle thrust her head under one of the jets, letting the mist saturate her long chestnut locks as she continued to curse fate.  Seriously, what did the gods have against her?  Was she going to be doomed to always suffer one interruption after another?  When she’d been with Gold, it was the Charmings with some crisis or new villain to be dealt with.  Now she was billions of light years from Earth and a decade removed from the inhabitants of Storybrooke, yet she still couldn’t find a private moment with the man she…whoa…so not going there, she thought as the breath hitched painfully in her chest.  I do NOT love Nicholas Rush.  I might care deeply for him, but I do NOT love him.

Her inner voice snorted…and laughed, chortling.  “Denial.”

“Oh, shut up!” she hissed, smacking the heel of her hand against the shower stall, completely exasperated.  She nearly jumped a foot as two sinewy arms snaked around her waist and gently hauled her back against a wet chest.

“I haven’t said anything yet,” Rush said softly against the curve of her neck.

A whisper soft gasp escaped her parted lips as his hands fanned out over her stomach, the realization the she was very naked…and wet and exposed and vulnerable…with an equally naked Rush, robbed her of breath and sent heat curling through her veins.  Her heart plummeted somewhere in the region of her feet because her little monthly visitor had decided to rear its ugly head to totally derail any romantic notions she may have had.  Damnit!!!

She covered his hands with her own, her fingers entwining with his to stop the slow patterns he was drawing on her already over sensitized flesh.  “I’m sorry, Nicholas,” she said, her voice barely more than a whisper as she ducked her head, her wet hair framing her face and hiding the deep crimson color in her cheeks.

“Don’t apologize for something that is completely out of your control,” he said, taking her chin and turning her face up to place a tender kiss at the corner of her mouth.  “You think your body is the only thing I want from you?”

Belle raised her eyes to his, her heart fluttering madly as she took in the softness, the tenderness and something quite frightening in its intensity reflected in his warm sable orbs.  She couldn’t do this, not now.  “I…ah…I should have recognized the signs.  I shouldn’t have led you on,” she murmured miserably, lowering her gaze.

“Are we always going to have such difficulties with communication between us?” he asked, his lips returning to her heated flesh as he trailed hot open-mouthed kisses along her bare shoulder.

She huffed out an exasperated little laugh, biting her lip to hold a needy moan at bay as his hands caressed her sides.  “We always have, N-Nicholas.  Now, just because we’re…um…” her voice trailed away, flummoxed as to what name she should put on this new phase of their relationship.  Unable to find a suitable title, she gave up.  “I don’t see why it will change.”

“Now, because we care for one another?” he teased, nipping at a particularly sweet spot just behind her left ear.  “Now that we’re a bit more than friends?”

“You care for me?  It’s n-not just sex?” she asked tentatively, her breath labored as his thumbs brushed the sensitive undersides of her breasts.  Her hands clamped down on his wrists, refusing to let him proceed further until she had his answer.  “Don’t tease me, Nicholas.”

Rush sighed heavily, ceasing his sensual torment as he wracked his brain for an analogy that would make her believe him.  “If I had to choose between years of learning Destiny’s mysteries or returning to Earth with you…I would choose you.  That is how much I care for you, Belle.”

Any other woman would have slapped him…or at the very least come back with some caustic remark, but not his Belle.  She understood the meaning behind his hasty and albeit clumsy attempt to relay his feelings to her.  “I care for you too,” she said with a shy smile as she tipped her head back against his shoulder, finally relaxing into his embrace.

“You’re mine, Belle…say it,” he commanded roughly against the shell of her ear as his arm wrapped possessively about her hips.  “You know I don’t do anything half measure.  I need to know that you belong to me,” he rasped, sucking her flesh into his mouth at the juncture of her neck and shoulder, marking her.  “I need to know you want this just as much as I do.”

“Yours,” she breathed, her head swimming with desire as her body thrummed with the sensations brought about by his skilled fingers.  In truth, she’d always been his, from the moment she’d gazed into his dark sable eyes so filled with the pain of loss and despair of ever finding happiness again.  She’d been his assistant, his friend, and now his lover and there was no denying that a part of her belonged to him whether she wanted to admit it or not.  She wanted…no, needed…to belong to this man.  He was worth risking her heart again.  He was her Nicholas, and if she yielded herself to him, so would he yield to her.  He would belong to her just as much as she would belong to him.  “Yours,” she repeated, more fiercely than before as she tipped her head up to capture his lips, to lose herself in his kiss, his touch.

A moan caught in Rush’s throat, his arms tightening perceptively about her as her hot little tongue thrust into his mouth with more passion than she’d shown him thus far.  She pressed her hips back, arching into his erection, seeking more contact, more friction and he would not deny her.  He trailed his questing hands up her sides and lifted her arms, encouraging her to wrap them around his neck.

“Nicholas, we can’t…” she whispered, blushing furiously.  “I—“

“Shh,” he murmured, his hands returning to draw comforting circles over her belly.  “Just let me touch you, Belle.”  His tongue laved over the bruise purpling on her neck and he smiled as a whimper escaped her parted lips, pleased that he already had her quivering in his arms.

Belle nodded jerkily, incapable of speech…something neither of them had thought possible…and curled her fingers into the sopping strands of his hair, tugging none too gently each time his lips found a particularly hot spot on her neck.  Emboldened by her response, he cupped her breast in his hand, the mound fitting perfectly in his palm as he squeezed gently.  He worried the taut nipple, his nails scraping deliciously against the rosy bud as his left hand glided over the outside of her thigh and then slowly inched upwards towards her heated center.

Rush screwed his eyes tightly shut as she writhed against him, his engorged cock trapped between his belly and the smooth curve of her behind, fighting diligently to stop himself from giving in to the urge to spill himself against her.  This wasn’t about him, but her…all for her.  Her hands fell from his hair and ghosted over his hips, her nails digging sharply into his flesh as he cupped her sex, the heel of his hand grinding against her pubic bone.

“Críost trócaireach, mo chroí!” he growled, unable to stop himself from bucking his hips forward against her.  He returned her arms to their previous position around his neck.  “Don’t let go.”

“B-But I want to touch you too,” she complained, tugging on the ends of his hair as she slipped her fingers along his nape, scratching lightly.

He nipped at the lobe of her ear in punishment for arguing, a smile playing at his lips.  “Later.”

“But—ahh!” she wailed as he pinched her nipple between his thumb and forefinger, the motion sending heat spiraling south to her already throbbing sex as he slipped one long finger between her folds.  “Nicholas!”

Belle thrust back against him so forcefully, overwhelmed by the sensations he evoked in her, he lost his balance and fell back into the shower stall with a soft oomph.  Yet, he retained his grip on her.  “You like that, my Belle?”

“You know I do!” she croaked, her voice hoarse with passion, her breathing labored as she ground down on his hand.  “Don’t stop, Nicholas, please.”

Rush circled her clit with his thumb, never giving her the direct pressure she craved, teasing her until she was writhing and mumbling incoherently in Ancient.  He thought she might have cursed him there a time or two before he dipped a finger into her opening, pressing deeper and curling it to rub against a spot that had her howling.  He groaned as she thrust her hips back into his throbbing arousal, unable to decide if she wanted the pressure of his hand or his cock.  She was so hot, so wet, her body’s natural fluids coating his fingers as he sought to bring her more pleasure.  He covered her lips with his, his tongue thrusting into her perfect mouth in time with his probing fingers, so lost in a haze of pleasure he wouldn’t have cared if the entire crew had walked in on them.  Thankfully, they had relative privacy on this side of the ship…something for which he had his sweet girl to thank.

Taking advantage of his distraction, she reached back between them and cupped him, her fingers, gliding along his shaft, slick with the mist that surrounded them.  He broke their kiss, his eyes flying open to meet her lust-filled cerulean gaze, his hand pumping faster into her, perhaps a bit rougher than he would have liked, but she moaned her pleasure against his ear, encouraging him not to stop.  She came with a shout, her walls clamping down hard around his fingers, her legs nearly giving out from beneath her.  His arm tightened around her waist, supporting her as he thrust into her hand, her fingers painfully tight around his cock.

“Belle!” he cried, clasping her to him as he came hard, his seed spilling out against her pale flesh.  He buried his face in her neck, biting gently at her already bruised flesh as he slumped against the shower stall at his back.  It took him more than a moment to come down, for his breathing to return to normal.  He turned her in his arms so her back would take the brunt of the mist spraying from the nozzles, and used his hands to clean her, his lips ghosting kisses over her temple as she rested against his chest.  She allowed him to care for her without a word, content to let him minister to her.

He turned off the spray and reached for the large black towel hanging over the stall door, wrapping it about her before he lifted her in his arms and carried her out, setting her on the counter by the sink.  “You alright?” he asked, brushing the wet strands of her hair away from her face.

Belle looped an arm around his neck, cradling his stubbled jaw with her free hand as she pulled him in for a tender kiss, and dispelling the worry that lingered in his dark eyes.  “Never better.”

X*X*X*X*X

Rush growled his disgust as he looked down at the untouched nutrition ‘sludge’ in his bowl, ignoring the disapproving glare Belle cast him as she took a bite of her own breakfast.  She nudged him gently and nodded towards his bowl.  “Nicholas, I know it’s not the English muffin with sausage and extra crispy hash browns you favor, but it’s all we have.  Please.”

His stomach gave an audible rumble at the mention of his favorite breakfast sandwich and it was with great reluctance that he lifted the spoon to his mouth to appease her.  He was rewarded with one of her bright smiles and he felt it was worth choking down the foul substance if it would make her happy.  

“You’re sure you don’t have any more of that instant coffee hidden in the depths of that bag of yours?  It would make this much more palatable.”

Belle’s face fell, her hand reaching for his nape to smooth her fingertips over the tension sure to be building in his neck.  “No, I don’t,” she murmured sympathetically.  “Hopefully, the next planet we’re able to explore will have appropriate vegetation to enable me to make a proper tea blend.  With the testing equipment we have on board, we should be able to find something nontoxic that will brew up quite nicely.”

“Always the optimist,” he said, shaking his head before tipping the bowl to his lips to hurriedly finish off the contents held within.  He frowned as she pushed her half eaten breakfast at him.  “Oh, no,” he protested.  “I’ve eaten my share.  Finish it.”

“I’m not hungry,” she grumbled, rubbing her stomach absently.  “You eat it, so it doesn’t go to waste.”

“Belle,” he complained, his face twisting into a grimace.  He held his breath and choked down the ‘sludge’ in one long swallow and then stacked her bowl on top of his.  Becker nodded politely as he came by and whisked the dishes away.  “Why don’t you go back to bed if you’re feeling poorly?”

“I can’t.  I need to talk with TJ about my little problem, which come to think of it is going to be the problem of every female aboard soon, I need to have Riley charge both my iPhone and our laptops,” she said, patting the case sitting on the bench beside her.  “And there’s so much work to do I’ll probably be swamped the rest of the week.”

“Eli, Brody, and Park can help with the workload.”

Belle arched a brow.  “I see you didn’t add Volker into that list,” she retorted in a dry tone.

“Belle…” Rush said warningly.

“Fine,” she agreed, heeding his warning where his least favorite astrophysicist was concerned.  “And there’s also several bays on C deck that I promised Ronald I would investigate with him.  There’s some equipment in one of them that might be quite valuable, but he hasn’t been able to figure out what they do.”

His visage took on the darkness of a thundercloud at the mention of the master sergeant and he felt the first stirrings of jealousy twist his gut.  “You’re going exploring with Sergeant Greer?” he asked, trying to maintain a neutral tone so she wouldn’t pick up on the storm brewing within him.

Belle caught the slight tensing in his shoulders, however, and leaned close to his ear to whisper.  “Don’t be jealous, Nicholas,” she crooned softly, her warm breath hissing hotly against his ear and sending gooseflesh to pepper his arms.  “I’m certain by now that everyone who’s entered the mess has seen the love bites on my neck.  They know who I belong to.”

A smug, self-satisfied smirk curled one corner of his mouth and he didn’t even get upset when Colonel Young and Camille sat down opposite them at their table.  “Rush, we need to talk.”

Becker brought over a bowl of rations for Young and Camille and the colonel grimaced as he lifted his spoon.  Belle sipped from her cup of water as she regarded them steadily.  “Your meeting didn’t go well with General O’Neil?”

Camille raised her brows and shrugged.  “Meeting?  More like an ambush,” she said bitterly.  “Definitely not what we were expecting.”

Rush tapped his fingertips against the side of his cup and pasted a scowl on his face, impatiently waiting for the colonel to explain.  “I thought this was merely a routine debriefing, Colonel.”

“Yeah, well, it seems HWC is all for trying to get us home and the IOA is on board with their approval.  They seem to think the situation aboard Destiny is too dire for us to remain on board and are willing to take the risk,”  Everett explained, waiting for an explosion of Rush’s temper and all the reasons as to why this could become an epic disaster.

Rush’s teeth clenched with enough force to chip the enamel as he raised a hand to rub over the stubble on his jaw, but his voice remained calm.  “And I’m sure the science team has worked through every variable and can guarantee our safety and the safety of the ship with one hundred percent certainty,” he drawled acidly.

“Nicholas,” Camille said, drawing his angry gaze.  “Of course there are risks, but Director Strom assures me this is in our best interests.  The president wants this.”

Belle narrowed her eyes on the IOA representative, taking offense at her casual use of his given name.  “Strom is a hack trying to further his career, Camille.  He thinks if he can be instrumental in bringing us home that he’ll get a nice fat promotion and a hefty bonus.  Then he might be able to afford his mistress,” she added with a smirk.  “Question is…what’s in it for you?”

Camille’s eyes widened and her lips parted in surprise as she gaped at Belle, wondering how the girl came by her information.  And though she was reluctant to admit it, Rush’s assistant was usually spot on with her intel.  “What?  How do you know—“

Belle waved a dismissive hand.  “Oh, please.  No one ever pays attention to me,” she scoffed.  She blushed prettily when she looked up to find Rush’s gaze on her, his eyes filled with appreciation.

Rush slipped his hand into hers on the bench between them and turned his attention back to the colonel.  “What did you tell O’Neil?  Have you agreed with this foolhardy plan?”

Young didn’t answer immediately, regarding the scientist warily.  “Is this really about some deep concern you harbor for the people on board this ship…” he said, pausing briefly.  “…or are you afraid you’ll be replaced when the original away team is eventually brought on board?”

Belle could feel the tension radiating from Rush as he stared at the colonel and she gave his hand a light squeeze of reassurance.  “Well,” Rush said with cool disdain.  “The decision is ultimately yours, Colonel.”  He rose to his feet and pulled Belle up beside him, reaching for her bag containing their laptops.  He gestured for her to precede him from the mess, but couldn’t resist one more dig at the man’s command.  “Let’s just hope you make the right one.”

Young pushed his bowl aside and rested his chin on his folded hands, sighing in frustration.  Camille pushed her own rations to the side and placed a comforting hand to his shoulder.  “You really didn’t think it would be easy to convince Dr. Rush, now did you?”

“No,” he admitted ruefully, “but it would have been nice, just this once, for him to put the needs of the crew above his own.  He doesn’t want to leave Destiny and doesn’t care who’s here against their will as long as he gets to remain.  O’Neil isn’t going to be happy with Rush’s reluctance to implement this new plan.”

“HWC and the IOA are already convinced Rush doesn’t want to come home.  I doubt that his reservations are going to be taken into consideration.  This is what’s best for everyone on board,” she said, trying to be convincing as she’d been ordered by her superior.  Make this happen, Camille.

Young pushed himself up from the table and went in search of Scott and TJ to seek their advice and counsel, leaving Camille to sort through her own agenda.

X*X*X*X*X

Colonel Young stuck his head into the control interface room warily.  Hours ago, when he’d come in to speak with Rush again about their new predicament, Belle had nearly snapped his head off.  “Colonel, there are more pressing problems than a fiery death as the ship explodes.  It would probably be less painful,” she’d snapped.  “Fiery death and dismemberment are better than every woman on board this ship realizing that there are no fucking tampons stocked in the infirmary!!”  He’d flushed ten shades of red and left just as quickly as he’d entered, not even thinking of debating that issue with Rush’s assistant.  He’d simply mumbled quickly for Rush to see to the matter on his way out the door, ignoring the doctor’s dismayed cry of, “Why the hell is this my problem?!”

“You can come in, Colonel,” Rush drawled from where he sat at his console, an amused smirk on his face.  “Belle has gone exploring with Sergeant Greer.”

Scott prodded him into the room from behind and he took in those assembled for their impromptu meeting.  Taking note that everyone working the problem was in attendance, he nodded to Eli to begin.

“The ship doesn't have enough power to dial back to Earth and - as we've seen recently - when the ship runs out of juice, it finds a star and refills its tanks. Now, theoretically, at that time the full power of the star should be available to us.  Yeah. It's brilliant! ... If we can somehow use the ship as a conduit and channel the star's energy into the Gate as we dial.  The problem is the ‘whole ship as a conduit’ part,” he explained hurriedly.

TJ sat forward on her bench, eyeing the young genius.  “Well, does anyone know when the ship will run out of power again?”

Eli shrugged.  “It's tough to tell. Based on current usage, probably gonna be several months.”

Brody leaned heavily on the console next to Eli.  “Not if we can drain the power faster.”

Eli’s gaze swung to Brody.  “Right! That's the part of the plan that sounded a little vague.”

Rush sighed as he consulted his notebook and then tossed it onto the console, realizing he’d get no work done until the meeting was over and they’d cleared out of his space.  “Given how little we know about this ship ...”

“Can't we at least try it, and abort if something goes wrong?” Camille interrupted, exasperated.

“Well, unfortunately, the something goes wrong part would most likely mean the ship exploding,” he bit out.

“Not according to the people who came up with the idea,” Young said, pacing around the center of the room before arguing his point.  “They seem to be confident they can make this work.”

Rush rubbed at his right temple and prayed for patience.  “Well, if only all science was that definitive, Colonel. You're just going to have to choose who you want to believe.”

X*X*X*X*X

**  
  
**

Rush stalked along the corridor on C deck, glowering down at the radio in his hand. “Where are you, Belle?” he growled.  She’d been gone since early that morning and he was beyond irritated.  Everyone was walking on eggshells around him without his assistant there to act as a buffer for his temper.  Now Eli and Chloe were joining Colonel Young in using the stones.  He would be returning to give the general his decision and Chloe and Eli would be enjoying some downtime with their families.  He had to admit the time away from Destiny would probably do them some good, but he couldn’t help but resent the strangers roaming the corridors of his ship in the meantime.  “Belle!”

Finally, her melodious tones came through the radio, answering him in Ancient.  She slipped into the coarse dialect, speaking it just as fluently as he did.  “I’m here, Nicholas.  It’s not like I stepped out for a bit of fresh air,” she snarked, giggling.

“That’s not funny.”

“Sure it is.  You’re just in a bad mood,” she returned.  “Ronald and I are on C deck, past the long row of water tanks, third corridor on the left.”

Rush frowned, mentally mapping her instructions as he turned down the corridor she indicated.  “That part of the ship is sealed off.  We haven’t had time to—“

“Just because you haven’t explored this section doesn’t mean it’s sealed,” she said patiently.  “Rush, just hurry.  I can’t wait for you to see what I’ve discovered.”

He quickened his pace, glad the corridors were illuminated so he wouldn’t have to resort to the penlight he kept in his back pocket.  He huffed a little laugh, thinking of Belle’s enthusiasm with any and all things she found on the Ancient ship.  Her discovery could be as simple as a crate of dishes.  And he had to admit he could use the distraction.  He was not, however, expecting to walk into the room she’d directed him to…and find her well rounded behind hoisted up into the air for all to see.  Her torso was buried in the bowels of some type of machine and Greer had his hand on the back of her left thigh to keep her from toppling into the contraption.

“Sergeant Greer,” he snarled with quiet menace, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides.  “What is going on here?”

Before Greer could answer, a wad of wet cloth sailed over Belle’s shoulder and smacked the sergeant in his grinning face.  Her head popped out of the machine with a triumphant smile.  “Got it!  It was tangled around the agitator,” she said, casting Greer a look of apology as he helped her back to her feet.  “Nicholas,” she said, turning her hundred-watt smile on him as she moved to greet him.

His entire demeanor softened towards her as he reached up to brush an errant curl behind her ear that had escaped the ponytail secured at her crown.  “You missed the meeting,” he said lightly.  “Young is returning to Earth to inform Homeworld Command of his decision.”  He studied her face, noting the lines of stress near her mouth and eyes.  “How are you feeling?”

“Not my best, if you must know,” she said with a shrug.  “I thought it would be wise for me to distance myself from as many people as possible in my present mood.  You realize this issue with O’Neil and his IOA flunkies is not going to end well.”

He glanced over her shoulder to see Greer gathering the wet clothing and transfer it to another machine, making sure he was distracted before he gave Belle his answer.  “It’s out of our hands…for the time being.”

She followed his line of sight and hummed her agreement before she took his hand and led him over to the bank of machines built into the hull.  “I’m so excited, Nicholas.  Laundry facilities!” she exclaimed, beaming at him.  “This is going to make everything so much easier.  They seem to work on the same principle as the showers, using a mixture of limited water and this cleaning solution that beads into a mist.  I’ve already taken the liberty of testing it.  Take a look.”

Rush’s brows rose in surprise.  “This wasn’t on the schematic,” he said, moving forward to inspect the first machine.

“It was there.  However, it was mislabeled as a storage room.  Understandable considering the number of Ancient crates we found in here.  Ronald and I have barely scratched the surface with those.”

He whirled on her sharply, a deep frown furrowing his brow.  “You’ve opened the Ancient crates?  There’s no telling what might be in those sealed boxes.  I expressly forbid you—“

“Oh stuff it, Rush,” she admonished with a dismissive wave of her hand before tugging on his arm to show him the treasures she’d unearthed by disobeying his orders.  “Wait until you see.”

“Watch her, Dr. Rush.  Once she gets started, it’s difficult to get her out of those crates,” Greer called teasingly after Belle as he switched on the dryer.  He chuckled merrily as she turned and rolled her eyes at him.

The lids were stacked neatly off to the side to reveal the contents of the crates and Rush couldn’t hold back the grin that spread over his face.  “This is incredible.”

“Isn’t it?” Belle gushed happily, bouncing on the balls of her feet in her excitement.  “There’s a crate of paper tablets, another filled with bedding…blankets, sheets, pillows.  That’s the largest one over there,” she said, pointing to one against the far wall.  “There are also some filled with cookware, cutlery, dishes and other things that will come in handy in the kitchens once we find a planet with some viable food sources.  There are towels in that small one over there.  We’ll need to have someone cart those up to the lavatories.  Here, give me a boost,” she said, anchoring a hand onto Rush’s shoulder and holding up her foot.

“Belle, I’m not going to help you climb into one of those crates.  What if there’s something hidden in the bottom and –“

“Pfft!  Cup your hands,” she argued.  “I have to get in to reach what I want to show you.  The hazards of being short,” she said with a wry smile.  “Besides, I’ve already explored this crate and it’s perfectly safe.”

Rush shook his head at her and cupped his hands beneath her sandal-shod foot, lifting her slight weight to give her a boost to sit on the edge and then drop down easily inside.  She disappeared from view and he hurried to the edge to look inside.  A second later, her hand appeared holding what looked like a jumpsuit…followed by a pair of trousers and a shirt, a pair of boots and several pairs of socks.  The jumpsuits and trousers were black in color and seemed to be made of some type of lightweight sturdy material he’d never seen before, something clearly man made by the Ancients and durable enough to last.  The shirts, colors ranging from white to grey or dark green, were also light in weight, sturdy, but of the softest fabric he’d ever touched.

“So much for the Colonel’s orders to leave the Ancient crates untouched,” he remarked dryly.

“Nicholas, darling, you are killing my buzz!” she snarked, peering over the edge of the crate at him.  “There are four more crates with similar items in various sizes.  Some of the members of the crew only have the clothes on their backs and aren’t as fortunate as you and I.  Think of what this discovery will mean to them.  And there are more than enough for everyone on board.”

“You’re right about that,” he said, taking in the sheer amount of crates that were still unopened.  “It’s not so farfetched to think that the Ancients would have thought this far ahead considering they were eventually planning to use the gate to come aboard to man the mission.”  He glanced over his shoulder to locate Greer and assure himself the sergeant was busy before he stepped to the edge of the crate and caught her lips in a swift kiss.  “Well done, my Belle.”

Rush didn’t easily dole out praise…or often…and Belle beamed with pride.  “With…um…with the extra bedding, I think I may also have solved our other problem,” she murmured, ducking her head sheepishly as she felt the heat rise in her cheeks.  “I’ll have to get with TJ on that project immediately.  I need to show her the crate full of what looks like medical equipment as well.”

“Yes, well,” he said uncomfortably.  “Let’s worry about that after we get you out of there.”

“I still think it would have been better if she’d found a freezer full of Angus burgers and bags of French fries.”  Greer said with a chuckle as he sauntered over to the crate and gave Rush a hand at lifting Belle out of the crate.  “You know all this is fine and good, but it’s going to be a short celebration if Homeworld can get us home.”  Rush and Belle snorted at the same time and then shared a look of mutual surprise.  Greer cast them a blank look, now seeing why Eli found them creepy at times.  Rush had his own mini me.  It came with spending entirely too much time in the other’s company…or on the rare occasions that he’d seen…soul mates.

“Greer, come in.  Where the hell are you?” came Scott’s voice over the radio.

“I’m here, sir,” Greer answered.

“Rush isn’t answering his radio and I need him in the communications lab.  We have a situation.”

Rush lifted the radio from his belt, inspecting it briefly, and realizing he’d left it on the frequency he and Belle used exclusively.  He shrugged and switched it back to the open channel used by the military personnel and his science team alike.

“We’re on our way now.”

Belle linked her fingers with Rush’s and let him lead her from the room, casting one last longing glance over her shoulder.  “I really hope it’s not some dire catastrophe.  I want to see what else I might find.  Eli can help when he returns.  He’s been dying to get into some of the Ancient crates.”

Rush smiled at her enthusiasm.  “Let’s hope.”

X*X*X*X*X

Rush took one look at the rigid set of Lt. Scott’s jaw and the cold gleam in his eyes and knew things had just gone from bad to worse.  He studied the colonel and groaned inwardly as he noticed the odd posture.  “Colonel Telford,” he acknowledged.  He could practically hear Belle grinding her teeth as she stood beside him.

“Dr. Rush…and the insubordinate Miss French,” he said in a cold voice.  “I’ll just get right to it, shall i?  I’ve been ordered to enact the rescue plan put forward by the IOA.”

Rush felt his gut twist with a mixture of anger and trepidation.  “Rescue plan?” he asked, wanting his suspicions confirmed.  He shifted to the right barely an inch towards Belle in an effort to protect her from the colonel.  There had always been a mutual dislike between the two, but he and Young had always been there to intervene.  There was no telling what the man would do to her if left to his own devices.

If Telford recognized the protectiveness of Rush’s stance, he chose to ignore it.  “I brought Doctors McCormack and Williams with me,” he said, referring to the new inhabitants of Eli and Chloe’s bodies.  “I believe you know them.”

Rush nodded.  “Indeed.”

“I’ve already set them to work,” Telford said, continuing despite the charged tension between them.  "Effective immediately, I’m assuming command of the Destiny.”  

 

X*X*X*X*X

Rush was worried…well, more worried than usual when he was confronted with Telford and his ambitions.  This time he had more to consider than just himself.  This time he had Belle to think about and he would be damned if he let that egotistical prick hurt her, even inadvertently.  Telford had assembled the crew in the gate room, flanked by the scientists he’d brought along and the ever present IOA brown nose, Camille Wray.  He and Belle sat at the primary console and he dimmed the lights in that corner of the room in deference to the headache she was suffering.  She hadn’t said a word since they’d left Telford and his flunkies in the communications lab and he knew from experience the wealth of anger she harbored, thrumming just beneath the surface.

He leaned his right elbow on the console and propped his chin in his hand, his left wrapping around Belle’s waist, making it clear that she was more than welcome to use him for support for her aching back.  She relaxed back against his chest with a relieved sigh, but her arms remained defiantly crossed over her bosom.  She hadn’t even spoken when she’d gone to fetch a jumpsuit for Dr. Williams nor had she answered the questions of where she’d gotten it.  Silence from Belle was never a good sign.

It didn’t help her simmering rage any that one of the first acts Telford performed with his new command was throwing Greer back into lockup for the offense he’d committed on Icarus.  Her circle of friends were slowly dwindling and there was nothing she could do about it.  Her nails dug painfully into his thigh and he winced as he returned his attention to the questions flying back and forth across the cavernous room.

“And what if the power flow can’t be controlled?” Riley asked.

Belle pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes.  It was entirely too strange to see Dr. Williams speaking with Eli’s voice and moving with such calm grace instead of the frenetic energy that abounded in the boy.  “Well, if there are any dangerous fluctuations, we just shut it down and allow the ship to continue powering up.”

“Early tests show it should work,” Brody said a little dubiously.

Telford sighed wearily as he turned to address the crew.  “We’re not going to be putting you in any more danger than you’re already in just being here.”

Belle snorted and cut her eyes over at Rush as he gently squeezed her hip, warning her to remain silent until they were alone.

Doctor McCormack shifted nervously, still not quite comfortable in Chloe’s body.  “From what I gather, supplies are desperately short.  And given the condition of the ship, it could experience a fatal breakdown at any time.”

“I’m sure they won’t give a damn about the condition of the ship when they’re assembling the away team to re-board her,”  Belle snarled in a heated whisper near Rush’s ear in Ancient.  Riley, Volker and Park were the only crew members who would be able to understand her statement, and they were across the room.  “They’re only thinking about their agenda and could care less about the loss of human life.”

 

Rush shook his head, but still refused to answer.  He wouldn’t give Telford an excuse to look closer and find the seething rage lurking just beneath his own skin.

 

Camille stepped up to quell the nervous whispers generating about the room.  “No one is trying to alarm you unduly, but we can’t continue to scrape by barely surviving.”

 

“Obviously we can't say for sure that this is going to get you home, but the best minds that we have are working on this and I'm sure you'll agree ...”  He turned and caught Rush’s eye, making sure the doctor was listening well to his impassioned speech.  “…it’s well worth pursuing.”

Rush slid off his stool without a word, grabbing Belle’s hand as he went to insure that she followed, and stalked out of the gate room.

X*X*X*X*X

**  
  
**

Belle took a deep breath and focused on the cables in her hand.  She was really trying to focus on the work she was doing to help Brody convert the useless wires into an adapter that would allow them to make their laptops compatible with Destiny’s computer.  At least the interlopers hadn’t taken over the control interface room, instead feeling more comfortable working in the gate room for the time being.  Brody laid a hand over hers and gently removed the mangled mess from between her fingers.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized, scrubbing both hands over her face in an effort to restore calm to her shattered nerves.

“It’s ok.  I think I’ve almost got this one ready,” the engineer said quietly as he concentrated on his task.

“Belle, why don’t you take a break,” Rush said from across the room where he sat at his console.  “You won’t be able to do more until the diagnostic of the weapons system is complete.”

“I’m fine, Nicholas,” she said, slipping into Ancient.  “I just can’t seem to relax knowing those stooges are in the ship’s computer with the express purpose of destroying our ship.”

“Yes.  Many of the power conduits have been badly damaged, and firing the ship’s weapons system—without either repairing them or isolating the damaged areas—would be prohibitively dangerous,” he said, ignoring the exasperated huff from Brody because he couldn’t understand them.  He would never be on board with Telford’s plan to drain the ship’s power using the antiquated weapons system.  It needed work.

“We could easily resolve this matter, Nicholas, if we could just disconnect the stones.”

Rush sighed and raked a hand through his hair, giving her his full attention.  “And how do you propose to do that when Telford has the communications lab under guard?  Believe me, Belle, I am open to suggestions.”

Belle’s shoulders drooped dejectedly.  “Colonel Young wouldn’t put us all at risk.  I don’t understand why the general would even agree to this.”

“He’s under pressure from the IOA and the president.  His choices are limited.”

“I hate to interrupt what I’m sure is a fascinating conversation,” Brody snarked, bristling that he hadn’t been included.  “But I think I have it,” he said, holding out the adapter to Belle.  “You wanna give it a try?”

Rush’s brow creased as he watched his assistant take the cable from Brody.  “You’re sure this is going to work without Destiny overloading the hard drive and frying our laptops?” he asked, rising from the seat at his console and moving to stand behind Belle at hers.

“It’ll work, Nicholas.  Before Eli left…when we first started discussing the possibilities…we wrote a program that would stop the ship’s computer from inadvertently downloading data into our laptops.”  She pulled up the program on her computer and entered the commands to begin, plugged the adapter into the port on the console and hit enter.  Her mouth immediately fell open in dismay as the console whirred to life beside her.

“Unfortunately, you two geniuses didn’t write anything into the program to prevent Destiny from accessing your own data,” Rush said with a chuckle.  “I’ll have to amend it before we try this with my own laptop.”

“Crap!” she cried.  Her fingers flew rapidly over the keyboard to prevent her files from merging with Destiny’s mainframe to little avail.

“Let’s just hope you didn’t have a virus on your laptop,” Brody said as he watched the files transfer.  “Wow, Belle, just how many music files did you have on there?”

Belle looked from him to the computer sitting on her lap.  “Damn, I left my flash plugged in!  And don’t castigate me for my music.  It helps me concentrate.”  A small smile played at her lips as she remembered Gold introducing her to iTunes.  She had nearly as many music files on her flash as she had e-books on her Kindle and that was saying something.

Rush’s hand crept along the back of her neck, gently massaging the tense muscles there as he leaned over her shoulder to peer at the screen of her laptop.  “Well, at least you have a backup now,” he said with a chuckle.

“Very funny, Nicholas.”  She entered a few more keystrokes and downloaded the completed diagnostic of the weapons system onto her laptop.  “There.  The program works at least.”

Brody began going through the files that had uploaded into Destiny’s computer on the console and then paused as the sound of guitar and drums filled the room.  Rush’s gaze swung to the man in horror.  “I’m working on it!” the engineer yelled over the din.

Rush moved back to his own console and then turned his gaze to Belle.  “It’s on the intercom system!  This infernal noise is blasting all over the ship!”

Belle bit her lip to stifle the laughter bubbling to her lips, but wasn’t able to hold it back for more than a moment as AC/DC’s Highway to Hell filtered loudly from the hidden intercom speakers.  Brody joined in her laughter, tapping his foot along with the music.  “Oh, come on, Rush.  Could we have chosen a more appropriate song?”

Rush dropped his head in his hands, wishing for a pair of industrial strength earplugs.  “TURN IT OFF!”

Belle’s eyes narrowed slyly and she quickly entered a series of keystrokes on both her laptop and the ship’s console.  “Um…I think I’m going to take that break now.”  She was out the door of the control room before he could stop her.

Rush’s radio crackled to life.  “RUSH!!!”

Brody winced as Telford’s voice shrieked over the device.  “I take it he’s not an AC/DC fan.”

“Rush, what the hell is going on?  How are we supposed to work with this noise?” Telford blustered.

A slow calculating smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he pressed the com button.  “Colonel, I assure you we are working to resolve the problem.  Chalk it up to some minor technical difficulties.”

“Do something!!”

Rush clicked off the radio and smirked at Brody.  He shouldn’t be surprised that Belle wanted to bedevil the invasive science team the IOA had sent.  “Mr. Brody, turn it up.”

X*X*X*X*X

Belle’s fun lasted about an hour…including spying on the interlopers through a Kino as their frustrations reached epic proportions and saving the footage for Eli to enjoy if…WHEN…he got his body back.  She’d finally taken pity on Rush, who she knew didn’t like the music, and decrypted her commands to confine her music files to the control room.  However, the look on Telford’s red face still brought a smile to her lips as she worked with Rush to repair the ship.

Brody and Riley had volunteered to don the spacesuits in order to repair some broken coolant pipes in a quarantined section of the ship, and her eyes rarely moved from the console as she monitored their progress.  “Pressure’s still fluctuating, Nicholas,” she murmured as she rubbed at the small of her back and shifted for a more comfortable position.

The suits thankfully were directly linked into the com link and they were able to maintain contact without the need for their radios.  “That’s it for me,” Brody said, closing the open valve of his welding torch and backing out of the corridor they were working in.

She watched as Riley did the same as he finished up and joined Brody, sealing the door behind him.  Belle tensed visibly as Telford stormed into the room, his two scientists on his heels.

“You’re stalling,” Telford accused angrily.

Rush gritted his teeth in order to maintain a neutral tone as he turned to look at the colonel.  “I’m doing things the way they need to be done.”

“We’ve isolated power to forty percent of the operational weapons system, and it should be good enough to get us a read on our power reduction capability,” Dr. Williams said, trying to reassure Rush.

Rush shook his head as Telford leaned in closer to him at the console, doing his best to intimidate the shorter man.  “The next time we drop out of FTL…” Telford snarled.

Rush however, refused to back down, arguing. “No, look, this ship is old and damaged. The computers aren't registering half the things they're supposed to. I want manual confirmation before activating any system that comprehensive.”

“Over eighty percent of this ship is inaccessible without spacesuits right now. With only two suits, doing it your way could take months,” Telford sneered.

“If that's what it takes.” Rush said, his voice deathly quiet, his eyes gleaming with malice.

“Doctor Rush, we're ready here,” Riley said over the link, breaking into Telford’s diatribe.

“Belle, send the power through,” he ordered, focusing on his screen as she entered the commands and data began to scroll on the console.  He cursed as an alarm sounded.  “Shut it down!  We’ve got a leak.”

“Riley, what do you see?  The Kino is out in the bloody corridor with you and Brody and my visuals are cut off,” Belle said worriedly.

“Looks like a coolant leak,” the sergeant said as he moved to open the door between himself and the spraying pipe.

“Belle, shut it down!” Rush commanded.

“I’m trying!”

“Shut it down!” Telford said, hovering between the two consoles helplessly.

“We’re trying, Colonel.  It’s not working,” Rush said, swiftly entering commands into the console.

“The problem is contained.  It’s restricted to that corridor,” Dr. Williams retorted.

“That’s not the point,” Rush said, casting a look of disgust at the scientist.

Telford raked a hand through his short cropped black hair and huffed an irritated sigh.  “How big an explosion are we talking about?”

“No!” Belle cried, watching the Kino relay, as she sent it into the corridor after her friend.  “Riley, don’t go in there!  Let us try to seal it off from here.”

“We’re in FTL.  If it punctures the hull, disrupts the shield at all, even for a microsecond, then the entire ship could be in jeopardy,” he hissed at Telford.  He abandoned his console to go to Belle’s where he could watch the relay with her.  “Sergeant Riley, this is inadvisable.  Get out of there…now!”

Riley ignored their advice and relit his torch, determined to seal off the leak.  The ship rocked violently beneath their feet as a spark hit the spray of coolant and the gas ignited, sending Riley flying across the corridor and crashing into the opposite wall.

Belle covered her mouth with her hand, her lips parted in a silent scream before she grabbed her radio and called for TJ and Scott, sending them off to see about the fallen man.

X*X*X*X*X

Rush held Belle tightly against his chest, his fingers stroking the back of her neck as they waited outside the infirmary for news.  Her silent tears soaked the front of his shirt, but her heartbreaking sobs had quieted quite a while ago.  Brody sat on the floor, leaning back against the bulkhead and chewed on his thumbnail.  He felt responsible for not being able to stop the younger man from his foolhardy mission.

The door whooshed open and TJ emerged from the infirmary, her face grim and drawn with fatigue and worry.  “It’s, um, it’s going to be touch and go,” she said.

“Is he going to make it?” Belle asked, pulling away from Rush and glancing over TJ’s shoulder into the room where she could see Riley lying still and lifeless on the gurney, an IV hooked to his arm and a swath of bandages wrapped carefully about his head.

“I don’t know,” the medic answered truthfully.   “I’ll let you know something as soon as I can run more tests.  For now he’s stable.”

Belle nodded and let Rush lead her away from the infirmary as Brody went to sit beside Riley’s bedside.  She had to bite back more tears and fight to restore calm, thinking if Telford hadn’t come aboard, her friend wouldn’t be fighting for his life.  One more reason for her to hate the colonel.

X*X*X*X*X

Rush glanced anxiously at Belle as she sat beside him in a secluded corner of the mess, idly swirling her spoon around in her metal bowl.  “Try to eat, Belle,” he said quietly, forcing himself to choke down his own food.

“I’m not hungry,” she murmured, pushing the bowl away and staring down at her hands.  Instead, she pulled a grape Jolly Rancher from her pocket and popped it into her mouth, toying with the thin cellophane wrapper.  “That idiot is going to drain all our power and proceed with the test.  He’s already caused one accident,” she said bitterly.  “He’s going to end up killing us all if he insists on this madness.”

“It’s not over yet,” he snarked with a sly grin.

Belle tensed as Telford entered the mess and made his way over to their table, sitting opposite them without even a by-your-leave.  “Colonel,” Rush acknowledged as he lifted his spoon to his mouth.

“We’re proceeding with the test next time we drop out of FTL,” he announced without preamble.

“Colonel, Riley nearly died.  Wasn’t that enough to show you—“ Belle hissed.

“You and Rush are the ones who put him in jeopardy,” Telford cut her off.

“We were trying to make sure you didn’t kill us all!” she countered.

“I’m not going to, Miss French.  I’m going to get you all home.”

Rush could feel her muscles tightening as her thigh pressed against his and he knew it wouldn’t take much more to set her off into actions they’d all regret.  “Enough,” he said, casting her a warning look before leveling Telford with a pointed glare.  “I accept responsibility for what happened, but you forced the situation, and activating the weapons system the way you're proposing is completely reckless.

“Come on, Rush. These people are in danger just being here, evidenced by what just happened. The ship is falling apart. They're the wrong people for this. We need to get them home,” Telford said, trying to reason with the scientist.

“Yeah, well, there's a right way of doing that.”

“We are doing it the right way.”

“That's a matter of opinion,” Belle mumbled under her breath as her cerulean eyes narrowed on the man.

“Look, I know that we've had our differences in the past ...” the colonel said, ignoring Belle’s cattiness.

“Yeah. You wanted me off the expedition team. I remember,” Rush murmured bitterly, his brogue thickening as his frustration grew.

“It was my duty to express concern for how everyone else felt about you.”

“It was your duty to be a controlling prick,” Belle said, her voice dripping with venom.

“So are you suggesting that my judgment is now somehow clouded? Or is it that I'm just plain lying?” Rush interjected before the colonel could reprimand Belle.  He didn’t need her locked up with Greer for the duration of Telford’s command.

Telford huffed a short mirthless laugh, leaning his elbows on the table.  “Admit it, Rush. After everything that's happened, you're afraid they're not going to let you come back.”

Belle was on her feet in a second, Rush bounding up beside her to pull her away from the table before she could let loose of her acerbic tongue.  He pulled her from the room, his arm around her waist to make sure she didn’t turn to expound on what a worthless cretin Telford had shown himself to be.

X*X*X*X*X

Rush didn’t release her until they gained the observation deck.  She stumbled slightly as the ship dropped out of FTL.  “What the hell is wrong with you?” he snarled, backing her into the railing before the window.  “You have got to stop openly baiting Telford, Belle.”

“How can I not when he’s openly trying to kill us all?!” she yelled back at him.  “He’s trying to derail all the good we’ve done since we came aboard and then…” she paused, her eyes flashing blue fire.  “…then he’s done nothing but belittle you and insult you since he took command.  The man has no clue as to what is going on up here and has no right to make you look like a subversive out for yourself!”

Rush gripped her upper arm and pulled her into him.  “And I won’t have that man lock you away from me because you can’t keep your fucking mouth shut!  I know you can’t stand the man, but we are going to have to tread carefully without the theatrics!”

Belle wrapped her free arm around his neck and pulled his head down, her lips crashing into his, diverting his passion from anger into something much more pleasant.  He was afraid…afraid to have her removed from his side.  She was quite experienced with what fear could do to a man and she drew on that knowledge to soothe him.  Her hormones had been driving her all day.  It was time to use her head.  

He didn’t respond at first, flummoxed by her abrupt change, but as her hot little tongue pushed into his mouth, the tension eased from his body as it stirred to life beneath her touch.  She melted into him, and he released her arm to wrap his arms about her waist and press her flush against his body, caging her between him and the railing at her back.  Her hands tightened in his hair as he took command of the kiss, the stinging in his scalp only adding to his pleasure and he had to force himself to reign in his passion.

“I’m not going anywhere, Nicholas,” she purred against the corner of his mouth as they came up for air.  She pressed her brow to his and stroked her fingertips over his stubbled jaw.  “I promise.”

“You’re the only person I can trust, Belle.  Everyone else on this ship believes me to be some self-serving bastard,” he admitted ruefully.  “I couldn’t stand to see him lock you up as he did Greer.”

Belle tucked her head beneath his chin and locked her arms around his waist.  “He won’t.  I’ll try not to lose my temper again, but what are we going to do about him?  We need to get Young back up here where he belongs.”

“Indeed.”  He rested his chin atop her crown as Destiny’s guns began firing.  He was silent as he watched the guns dispel their charges, cringing at the thought of the power being wasted.  Slowly, a smile curved up the corners of his mouth.  “I think I have an idea.”

X*X*X*X*X

“Wait!  Are you serious?” Belle gasped, following Rush as he entered the gate room and took up his position behind the primary console.  “You’re actually going to take someone else into your confidence?”

He held up his thumb and forefinger a half an inch apart.  “Maybe just a wee bit,” he said, his nose crinkling as he smirked at her.  “Trust me.”

“I do,” she insisted, taking her place at his side.  “But does Brody?”

“He trusts that I won’t let Telford kill us all,” he said simply.  “You look rather suspicious without your rucksack, love.  Shouldn’t you have fetched it?”

Belle smiled, warmth spreading through her chest at the endearment.  “No, I think not.  That thing is heavy and I’m not carting it around unnecessarily.”  The entire crew was gathering in the gate room, carrying the meager possessions they’d brought with them from Icarus.  The marines marshalled them into positions away from the stargate so they could wait patiently for Destiny to begin its descent into the star.

Rush didn’t answer as he eyed Telford.  The colonel took his place at the secondary console with Brody and the two scientists, Williams and McCormack.  “Just relax, Belle, and do not let your emotions come to the fore.”

Belle schooled her features into a mask of indifference and promised to make him pay for that little remark later.

“Diverting power flow to the stargate.  We’re ready to attempt dialing,” Williams announced, pleased with the readings he was getting on his screen.

“Do it,” Telford authorized, a smug smile on his face as he turned to watch the gate, leaving Dr. Williams to activate the controls.  The gate lit up and began to spin as the first chevron locked into place.

Belle pressed a bit closer to Rush as the second chevron locked in place,  No matter his reassurances that everything would be fine, she still found herself trembling in anticipation of something going wrong.  She dug a Jolly Rancher out of her pocket, unwrapped it and popped it into her mouth as she concentrated on the readings scrolling on the console, focusing her attention away from her fear.

Everyone stood waiting in nervous trepidation as the next chevron locked in place.  As the fourth moved into position and locked with a clang, the ship shuddered, sparks and white lines of electricity crackling about the whirling gate.  Belle turned her anxious gaze on Rush, but he was busily watching Telford and the two scientists.

Scott began yelling at the crew for them to step back and keep their distance from the sparking gate.  “Step back!  Everyone back up!”

Telford walked back to the console Dr. Williams was manning as Brody announced, “You’re going to overload the capacitors.  The limitations are not holding.”

Williams rapidly entered several commands.  “I’m bringing power flow down now.”

Despite the electricity arcing around the gate, it stopped and locked in the fifth chevron before spinning on.  The crew shifted nervously, trying to move further back from the sparking gate.

Rush leaned heavily on the primary console and glared at Telford.  “This system wasn’t meant to handle this much power, Colonel,” he said firmly, daring the man to contradict him.

The metal floor of the gate room shook violently beneath their feet.  “The shields are fluctuating.  They’re not going to hold,” Belle said, trying to divert more power to the shields.  “I’m locked out, Rush!  Do something.  Make them stop,” she cried, her panic very real.

Telford held up his hands.  “Everyone, stay calm!  We’ve got this under control.”

Dr. Williams gave Telford a pointed look.  “Colonel, we need to abort.”

Telford clenched his jaw as he stared at the gate in frustration.  “Shut it down!” he ordered angrily.

Williams typed in the commands to shut down the program, glancing up worriedly when the gate continued to spin, approaching the sixth chevron.  “It’s not working!”

Telford stormed over to his side and stared at him incredulously.  “I thought you said you could stop it at any time during the sequence!”

“It should have worked, but it won’t shut down!  There’s nothing I can do to stop it!” the scientist said frantically, fear causing sweat to bead at his temples and upper lip.

Rush’s gaze was unwavering as Telford turned to glare at him, the colonel certain that Rush could have done something to save the experiment.  He closed his eyes briefly, his mind whirring as he thought of what action he should take.  With a nod to the two scientists that had accompanied him to Destiny, he turned on his heel and left the gate room, McCormack and Williams falling hurriedly into step behind him.

Scott ran to the doorway.  “Where the hell are you going, Colonel?”

Rush fought to keep the smirk off his face as he nodded almost imperceptively at Brody.  Brody picked up a radio from the console and left the room, following after Telford and the scientists.

Scott whirled around to face Rush.  “Do something!”

Rush calmly lifted his radio from his belt and waited, his free hand reaching out for Belle’s in an effort to reassure her.  She was pale and her eyes were dark with a fear she was trying very hard not to show.

It was a tense minute or so before Brody’s voice filtered over the radio.  “They’re gone,” he confirmed.

“Thank you,” Rush said, clipping the radio back to his belt.  Belle exhaled noisily in relief.  If Telford and his flunkies were gone, that could only mean Colonel Young, Eli and Chloe had returned to their bodies.  He pressed a button on the console and the gate went cold, slowing to a stop, the electricity dissipating as silence reigned in the room.

The lights came back on in the room now that the gate was no longer sucking energy from their power reserves as Rush emerged from behind his console to address the crew.  “If I can have everyone’s attention please.”  He waited for the crew to press in closer so he didn’t have to shout.  “I’m sorry to have to tell you that, uh, we will not be going home.  Not yet, anyway, but you can all relax and return to your quarters.  The ship will not be exploding…” he said with a small smile.  “…at least not today.”

Belle snorted.  Rush was relishing the attention and all she could do was shake her head.

“Normal power levels will be restored soon, right?” Scott asked, needing confirmation.

Rush nodded.  “Yes.”  He looked around at the crowd and offered up a quirky smile.  “Thank you.”

The crew murmured warily amongst themselves as they began to break up and leave the gate room.  Camille, TJ and Greer…who had been released when Telford thought his experiment would be a success…crowded around Rush before he could make an exit.  Camille was seething, her anger palpable in the cavernous room.

“You staged the whole thing,” she practically snarled.

“So all of this was just to get rid of Telford?” TJ asked, crossing her arms over her chest and shooting a suspicious glance in Belle’s direction though her words were for Rush.  Belle met her gaze steadily and shrugged apologetically.  “And of course you weren’t alone.”

“Had to be done,” Rush said quietly, nonplussed.

Greer arched one dark brow.  “So you’re saying that the ship is not gonna explode?”

“Oh no, we would most definitely all be dead had I not put certain limits in place. I also arranged for the alarms and warnings to go off regardless - a bit of theatre. Always nice,” Rush said, his mouth turning up in a half moon grin that Belle was hard pressed not to chuckle at.  He was met with several furious glares.  “Their plan was never going to work,” he insisted.

“You could've warned us. You scared the crap out of everybody,” Scott said acidly.

       

Belle abandoned the console and moved to his side, taking the hand he held out to her.  “Well, I didn't know who was on my side, did I?  Or rather, who else was on my side,” Rush said, meeting her gaze, his sable eyes sparkling with warmth.  Without another word, he and Belle left the gate room hand in hand, leaving the others staring after them speechless.

X*X*X*X*X

Belle dropped her spoon into her empty bowl and smiled at Rush.  “Well I can’t say that was fun,” she said, knowing he would know that she was referring to the gate room incident and not their unappetizing dinner.

“Oh, I don’t know, my Belle.  I had fun making Telford look like a fool,” he said, his nose crinkling as he grinned at her.  “I told you there was nothing to worry about.”

She glanced around the deserted mess hall and then leaned into him, brushing her lips to his.  “So who was worried?”

He snorted.

“I wasn’t worried…I was bloody well terrified!” she said, smacking her hand lightly against his chest.  “You didn’t say anything about the sparking electricity around the gate.  I was afraid it was going to catch fire.”

Rush reeled her in for another kiss, this one deeper and fraught with a wealth of emotion.  When they parted, he smoothed a lock of hair that had escaped her ponytail, behind her ear, his eyes meeting hers in a meaningful look she’d rarely seen when he wasn’t speaking about his work.  “I would never deliberately put you in danger, mo ghrá.”

“Oh damn,” came a familiar voice from the doorway.  “Sorry!”

Belle giggled.  “No, Eli, come and join us!” she called, waving him over.

A blush rode high in his cheeks as he moved to sit opposite them.  “So,” the boy began, looking anywhere else to avoid looking at Rush.  He really was getting tired of walking in on the two of them.  “How come you guys didn’t stick around for Colonel Young’s speech?”

“And listen to him expound about how we all need to work hard and stick together?” Rush asked, rolling his eyes as he lifted his cup.  “Cheers.”

“Don’t worry.  I have a Kino in there recording it for posterity.  I’m going to add it to the documentary so I’ll watch it later while I’m editing,” he said.  “But I was wondering about something and Greer told me you were the one I should ask, Belle.”

“Sure,” she said with a bright smile, happy to have Eli back with them.

“What am I wearing?”

Rush pulled her up from the table before she could answer.  “Why don’t we save that for tomorrow, shall we?  Belle will fill you in first thing in the morning.  It’s been a long day.”

“I promise, Eli,” she called over her shoulder.  “Nicholas!” she scolded when he’d pulled her out into the corridor.  “That was rude!”

“No, it wasn’t.  Actually it was quite reasonable coming from me,” he snarked playfully.  “If I had let you tell him where you’d gotten that jumpsuit, the two of you would have run off to C deck and spent the rest of the evening exploring those crates.”

“And you have other plans, I take it?” she asked, biting down on her lower lip as she peeked up at him from beneath her lashes.

His eyes darkened as they turned down the corridor that led to their quarters.  “What do you think?”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Ooooh, can you tell I just cannot stand Telford or Camille? Big surprise, huh?
> 
> “Críost trócaireach, mo chroí!” is Irish Gaelic for “Merciful, Christ, my heart!” just in case you were wondering. Also, my beta and I got into this long drawn out discussion as to what would happen with no supply line and no way for all those women on board to have access to feminine products…or FFS Midol? Come on, people!! Can you seriously say you haven’t thought the same thing? So this is my way of filling in the blanks for her (o: I’m also filling Valerie’s request (who is reading this on AO3) for shower smut. Hope you enjoyed it, my darling <3.
> 
> If anyone is interested, you can now follow me on tumblr at CharlotteAshmore13. There are some new ‘Why Did You Stay’ ficlets on my masterlist. If you leave me an ask on any of my stories, i will be glad to fulfill the prompt for you (o:


	8. Time

 

Belle stepped through the gate, an exuberant smile on her rosebud mouth and a grumbling Rush at her side, his hand clamped firmly on her upper arm.  Her smile faltered as the heat and humidity washed over her.  “Wow!  It feels as if I just stepped into the shower,” she exclaimed as the rising temperature made the camouflaged flak jacket feel entirely too heavy on her petite frame.

Rush snorted as he moved down the ramp and deposited the aluminum case full of their testing equipment on the loam littered ground.  “You saw the readings for yourself, Belle.  You knew it was going to be hot.”

She set her own pack next to the two he’d deposited on the ground, her eyes searching through the dense jungle surrounding them.  She shucked off the much too heavy coat and laid it over her pack, daring him to open his mouth to argue with her.  He’d talked her into foregoing her own jeans and cardigan in favor of the heavier military uniform and boots, more protection against the elements, he’d said.  He hadn’t, however, been able to talk her out of the navy blue halter top that left much of her back exposed.  It was modest compared to something Red would have worn, she thought with a smirk, the lightweight material covering her almost completely in the front and wrapping around to tie in a knot at her lower back.

Belle swiveled to face Rush, about to ponder a question to him, only to find his gaze riveted on her exposed flesh, his eyes dark and his lips slightly parted.  She reached over and snapped it closed with a knowing smirk.  “Behave, Nicholas," she chided, "we’ve work to do.”

Rush abruptly cleared his throat, blinking back to his senses and casting a warning glare at Eli and Greer who were ogling her smooth back with appreciation before whispering dolefully.  “That scrap of material is going to get lost in the laundry.”

“I beg your pardon?” she asked, biting her lip to hold back a wicked smile.

“You heard me,” he snarled, bending to his pack to retrieve his testing equipment.

She chuckled softly, relishing his jealousy.  It was unwarranted as she’d given him no reason to be jealous.  Perhaps their forced abstinence was more difficult for him to bear than she’d previously expected.  Two more days and…well…she wasn’t going to dwell on it.  There were plant samples to be taken and tested, food sources to be explored, and water to be found- the entire reason for their foray down to the planet.  She’d save her more delightful musings for when they returned to the ship, and perhaps find a way to alleviate some of her darling doctor’s discomfort.

Lt Scott was the last through the gate, bringing up the rear.  Colonel Young had remained behind on Destiny, leaving Scott to see to the mission.  “Secure the perimeter,” he commanded, eyeing his fellow soldiers and sending them off to take up a defensive stance a dozen or so meters from the gate.

Chloe grabbed Belle’s hand, a bright smile on her face.  “Want to explore with me, Belle?  I can’t wait to see if there are any fruits we might be able to bring back with us.”

“Yes,” Belle replied.  “The ‘sludge’ is getting to be a bit much.”

“Don’t wander too far afield,” Rush cautioned gruffly, not at all pleased by the suggestion of her going off without him.

“Don’t worry, Nicholas.  I have my radio and we’re well protected,” she said, gesturing towards Greer, Spencer, and the remaining military officers.  “Just call for me if I’m needed.”

Chloe and Eli didn’t give him a chance to respond, dragging his little assistant off through the dense overgrowth.  He glowered at the pair and shook his head.  He realized he couldn’t have her solely to himself at all times, but he didn’t bloody well have to like it.  He gathered his testing supplies and set off to investigate the plant life in the immediate vicinity, keeping an eye out for anything that would make a possible tea blend as Belle had requested.

Vanessa James, second lieutenant, brought over a metal crate and set it in the center of a small clearing where Belle, Chloe and Eli found themselves, several questionable trees towering above them, their branches heavy with what looked to be some type of fruit.  Vanessa left them to their task, moving off to help Dr. Franklin with gathering plant samples for the new hydroponics lab he wanted to start on board Destiny with the hopes of growing their own fruits and vegetables.

The branches were thankfully low enough for Belle to easily reach as she began picking the fruit.  She frowned dubiously at the dense flower-like specimen in her hand; it resembled an artichoke.  She could only hope it didn’t also share the same texture and taste, as she’d never found that particular food to be a pleasant experience for her.

Eli fiddled with the Kino remote and Chloe cast him a disapproving look over her shoulder.  It seemed they couldn’t take two steps without him trying to record every little thing for some part of his documentary, but she couldn’t find it in her heart to scold him.  Everyone needed a hobby of some sort to keep themselves from going mad with the day to day monotony of life on board the Ancient ship.

“So,” Eli mused cheerily, a grin on his cherubic face.  “Your first alien planet!  Everything you expected? More? Less?”

“Eli, we saw what it was going to be like on the Kino,” Belle chuckled as she tossed another piece of fruit into the crate.

“Eh, true,” he conceded with a shrug.

Chloe stood on her toes to reach one of the higher branches.  “Although it is nice to get off the ship, get some fresh air…even if it is a bit sticky.”  She shrugged out of her cardigan and tied the sleeves about her waist, leaving her arms bare due to the tank top she wore.  Relief from the stifling heat immediately made her breathe easier.

“So you’re not nervous at all?” he asked, lowering his tone to a dramatic whisper.  “Not afraid some giant alien insect is going to come out and bite you?”

Belle cast him an icy glare as she turned to find the Kino focused on her bare back.  “Eli, if Rush happens to see you ogling my back through that damned Kino…well, I’ll let you use your imagination.”

“Sorry.  Would you believe I was checking for insect bites?”

Both girls dissolved into laughter at his sheepish grin.  “NO!” they answered in unison.  They moved off to another section of the clearing when their crate was full and began inspecting another of the trees, this one with fruits resembling oranges.  Belle felt optimistic towards these trees.  They could only benefit from fruit that would yield some vitamin C.  Her mouth was practically watering with the thought of drinking a tall glass of orange juice.  Chloe sent Eli off after another crate, happy to have the ever-present Kino focus elsewhere for a moment.

X*X*X*X*X

Eli sat down on a tree stump and sighed tiredly, looking across to Corporal Marsden who stood nearby, his rifle at the ready and a stony expression on his face.  “What? I need a break!” the boy said defensively as he took a drink from his canteen.  “It’s so hot!”  He shot another glance at Marsden, who still regarded him accusingly.  “What?  Don’t judge me.  All you’re doing is standing there!”

“Making sure nothing crawls up your ass,” the corporal said quietly.

“And I appreciate that,” Eli retorted, regaining his feet and moving off to seek better company.  He pulled the Kino remote from his back pocket and zoomed it in on Belle and Chloe again as they chatted amiably where he’d left them.

 

X*X*X*X*X

Belle knelt down beside Rush as TJ and Volker began laying out several of their finds on a tarp for the scientists to test for toxicity.  Along with the fruits, there were several root vegetables, including some that looked similar to onions and potatoes.  She nearly salivated at the thought of smothered potatoes for dinner.  Franklin added various nuts and berries that he’d found as well.

Chloe frowned.  “How are we supposed to know what’s safe to eat?”

“We can’t know for sure.  All we can do is test to make sure no known toxins are evident and hope for the best,” TJ said nervously as she took a knife from her vest and cut into what looked like a pear.

Eli picked up a small yellow fruit, eyeing it suspiciously as he screwed up his courage to bite into it.  “What’s that saying?  ‘A starving man’…”  He popped it into his mouth and chewed for a moment before spitting it out and wiping his sleeve over his tongue to remove the bitter taste.

Belle laughed.  “Hunger is the best seasoning, though apparently not agreeable with your palate.”

Scott sat back on his haunches and laughed.  “Maybe it wasn’t ripe.”

Eli glared at him.  “You try it!” he said, tossing it towards the lieutenant who caught it instinctively in his hand before returning it to the tarp.

“Uh, no thanks,” Scott chortled with a shake of his head.

Eli reached for another item on the tarp, but Rush smacked his hand away.  “You’ve just exposed yourself now.”

Eli’s face screwed up with disappointment.  “C’mon, seriously?”

“Yes, Eli.  Here give it to me,” Belle instructed, reaching into the pack at her side and coming out with a piece of equipment.  It looked similar to the Kino remote, but this one had a wand attached to it with a sharp probe at the end.

“What’s that?” Rush asked curiously, not familiar with the device.

Belle took the wand in her hand and inserted it into the fruit, smiling smugly at Rush.  The screen lit up, data about the object in her hand scrolling swiftly.  “This,” she said, indicating the device, “will tell us if it’s safe.  Have a look.”

Rush took the small device, his brow furrowing as he read the Ancient text.  “Composition, levels of toxicity, texture, taste, vitamin and nutrient levels…” His head whipped around to stare at his assistant.  “Where did you find this?  It will make our job of finding viable food sources so much simpler.”

“Oh yes,” TJ agreed.  “It certainly beats your latest testing philosophy of feed it to the colonel and if he doesn’t keel over then it’s safe,” she chuckled softly.

“In one of the Ancient crates Eli and Chloe and I have been going through.  I thought I would bring one along with us to see if it would work,” she replied, “It was packed away with some of the other testing equipment.  It was worth a shot.”

“And why am I the last to know of this?” Rush asked dryly as he folded his arms across his chest.

“Because you never listen to me, Nicholas.  I did try to show you when I found it, but you were entering data into the database and were rather rudely ignoring me.”

“I was not!  I—“

Brody interrupted, his face grave as he rushed over to them.  “TJ, uh, Volker just puked.”

TJ and Scott rose to their feet and hurriedly left the group, following Brody over to where Volker was sitting on a tree stump nearby on the other side of the ramp leading to the gate.  TJ took in his pale, waxen complexion and the cold sweat beading on his clammy brow and reached for her kit.  “Have you eaten anything here?” she asked worriedly.

Volker shook his head as she flashed her penlight into his eyes to check the size of his pupils.  She cast a disapproving look at Eli and he backed the Kino up with a mumbled apology.  “Are you staying hydrated?” she asked as she continued to take his vitals.

He nodded, his tongue thick, making it difficult to answer.

“Okay, what about any numbness or…how’s your vision?” she asked, unsure if he had been feeling ill before they’d disembarked for the planet surface.

“Oh, it’s…my head’s pounding and my neck’s a little…”  he murmured listlessly.  Without any warning, he slumped forward and tumbled off the stump.  TJ and Scott managed to break the worst of his fall, their hands gripping his arms as they laid him gently on the ground.

Scott looked up at Eli.  “We should get him back to the ship.  Eli, dial the gate,” he commanded.  Eli scurried away with the Kino remote, already beginning the sequence to activate the star gate.

Without warning, Chloe swayed unsteadily on her feet and collapsed at Belle’s feet.  Before she could reach for her, Rush grabbed her about the waist and backed away from both Chloe and Volker, leaving TJ and Dr. Park to see to them.

“Nicholas!” she cried, struggling against his restraining arm.  “Let me go.  I need—“

His stern voice cut her off.  “You need to stay away from her.  You don’t know what’s wrong with her.  What if it’s contagious?”

Belle stopped struggling and turned to glare at him.  “And if it is, if she contracted it here on the planet, then we’ve all likely been exposed.  Now let me go to her,” she said the last in a gentle tone. He nodded sullenly, realizing she was right.  With some reluctance, he sighed and retracted his arms, letting her go to the aid of her friend.

Chloe was already coming to when Belle dropped to her knees at her side.  “What happened?” the tall brunette asked, rubbing a hand over her sweat-soaked brow.

TJ knelt on Chloe’s other side and took her pulse.  “You collapsed on us.  How are you feeling now?”

Belle helped TJ support the weakened girl as they pulled her into a sitting position.  She still seemed to be out of sorts, though her return to consciousness was encouraging.  Volker was still out cold.

“I don’t know,” Chloe said, her voice weak.  “I just started feeling dizzy.  It came on pretty fast.”

TJ put the back of her hand to Chloe’s forehead and frowned.  “It feels like you’re running a temperature.”

“You’re sure it’s not just the heat, TJ?” Belle asked, offering Chloe a drink from the girl’s canteen.

“I don’t think so,” the blonde lieutenant murmured, fixing Belle with a pointed look, worry evident in her iolite gaze.  “Is your neck bothering you?”

Chloe nodded as she pulled the canteen away from her lips.  “Yeah, it just started.  It’s stiff at the back mostly.”

Scott backed away, concerned for his girlfriend and tried to get everyone’s attention.  “Ok, guys, listen up.  Get your stuff.  We’re buggin’ out.”

TJ left Chloe with Belle and hurried over to join the lieutenant.  “Wait, wait, wait!  We can’t leave.  If it’s something that they got here, it could be contagious.”

Scott frowned, wanting nothing more than to get everyone safely back on board Destiny where TJ could treat the sick in a more sterile environment.  “So what are we supposed to do?”

TJ glanced down at her watch.  “We have thirty-six hours before the Destiny leaves.  For the sake of everyone on board, I say we wait.  At least for a little while…just to see how this plays out.”

X*X*X*X*X

Belle stared at the gate as the puddle rippled, leaning back against the tree towering above her and protecting her pale skin from the UV rays overhead.  Chloe rested nearby with her head in Scott’s lap, her breathing labored as she slept.  She could vaguely hear TJ speaking with the colonel on her radio, her back to the Kino that hovered nearby.  She was going to have to have a talk with Eli about that apparently.

“I don’t know, Colonel.  It could be anything, really…a virus, a bacteria.  There’s no way to know if it’s airborne,” the medic said.

Young’s voice came back over the open channel, the transmission crackling with static.  “You’ve only been there three hours.”

“I know,” TJ said wearily as she wiped the sweat from her brow.  “If it’s something they picked up locally, then the progression is unfolding quickly.  Sir, until we know more, I’m recommending that we don’t return to the Destiny with anything that might be contagious.  Let us know if anyone on board is exhibiting similar symptoms.  At least that way we’ll know for sure if it has nothing to do with this planet.”

“Will do,” the colonel said.  “Check in every hour, regardless.”

“Copy that,” TJ said, putting her radio away as Young severed the connection.

Rush, crouched down with his back against the tree beside Belle, eyeing TJ suspiciously as she sat down next to Belle and drank deeply from her canteen.

“So, we’re stuck here for a while, I take it?” Belle asked, toying absently with the wrapper of a Jolly Rancher for want of something to keep her hands busy.

Rush snorted.  “You must have some suspicions as to what’s causing this.  I’ve seen you giving them shots.”

“I started them both on high doses of antibiotics.  I hate to waste it, but given the symptoms of headache, fever and neck pain, it’s better to be safe than sorry,” the medic said, rifling through her kit to take stock of her supplies.  “Belle, how do you feel?”

“Right as rain, TJ.  Don’t worry about me,” she said, discarding the wrapper and raising her fingers to the tea cup charm hanging on the thin gold chain about her neck.

Rush knew Belle was more concerned than she was letting on due to the level of fidgeting she was doing, but focused his questions on the medic.  “Ok, so what is it? Bacterial meningitis?”

“There’s no way to tell without a way to test for it, but if it turns out that’s what it is, and I haven’t done anything, they could die quickly.”

“You don’t know,” he hissed acidly.  “You’re using up our antibiotics on a hunch.”

“Yes, Dr. Rush,” TJ said, her eyes flashing hotly as she tried to maintain her professionalism.  “That was my judgment call.”

“That’s just great!”  Rush shot to his feet and glowered at the blonde, realizing the futility of continuing the conversation, and walked away into the overgrown jungle surrounding them.

Belle reached out and laid her hand atop TJ’s where it rested on her knee.  “Don’t let him get to you, Tamara.  He doesn’t like to feel helpless,” she said, rising from the jungle floor and brushing leaves from her pants.  “I’ll go talk to him.”

She found him a short distance away, his arms folded stubbornly across his chest and staring into the dense growth.  She slipped her arms around his waist and rested her cheek against his nape, her nails scratching pleasantly against his stomach.  “TJ’s only doing what she thinks is best.”

“I know, but not knowing for sure, she’s wasting what little precious supplies we have,” he said quietly, the muscles tensing in his jaw as he clenched his teeth.  When she didn’t argue, he relaxed and pulled her around so he could loop an arm around her shoulders.  “I’m wishing I’d left you on Destiny.”

“I’m sure you are, but you kept your promise,” she said, referring to the vow he’d made to let her go offworld on the first viable planet they came to.  “At least we’re here together,” she murmured, reaching up to kiss his cheek.

“Dr. Rush!”

Rush turned at the sound of his name, releasing Belle as Greer came through the underbrush with Eli and Scott following closely at his heels.

“Dr. Rush, I found something I think you need to see, sir,” Greer said, motioning them to follow.

Eli fiddled with his Kino remote and swatted at an insect that buzzed near his ear.  “I thought you said it wasn’t far,” he complained.

“It’s not,” Greer replied, arching a brow in the boy’s direction.

Eli looked back to find Scott rubbing at the back of his neck.  “Hey, you doing ok?”

Greer called for them as he rushed ahead, preventing Scott from replying.  “Over here.”

“Ewww,” Eli groaned.  “What is that smell?!”

“It’s sulphur,” Rush said, waving Belle to stay back as he approached Greer’s discovery.

Belle bristled at his command, but chalked it up to him being overprotective and held her tongue.  He pulled a handkerchief from the back pocket of his jeans and covered his nose and mouth as he approached what looked to be a giant ant hill about four feet in height, steam rising from it to pollute the air.

“Wow!” Eli said, holding his nose.  “I’d hate to see the ants that made those.”  He glanced over his shoulder to check on his Kino.

Rush kept his face covered as he leaned over the mound to take a look, grimacing and coughing as he hurriedly pulled back.  Greer hovered at his back, keeping his distance even though he was prepared to take action should anything leap out of the mound.  “You think this is what’s making people sick?”

Rush leaned over the mound again, this time shining his flashlight into the hole.  “I don’t know.”

Greer backed away another foot as the smell wafted in his direction.  “They make chemical weapons from this stuff.”

Rush finally turned and made his way back to Belle where he could breathe a little easier.  “Yeah, I know, but we don’t know the exact compound, the concentration, and a myriad of other factors.”

“There’s more over there,” Greer said, pointing with the barrel of his rifle.

He shook his head.  “No, no. it’s all right, I believe you.”

Greer’s brow furrowed as he looked between Rush and Belle.  “Look, I’m just saying I know she doesn’t want to make anybody else on the ship sick, but what if it’s staying here that’s gonna kill us?”

“We need to give it a few more hours at least, Ronald,” Belle said, brushing a tendril of hair off her brow where it had escaped the bun at her crown.

Rush offered her his hand, which she took, letting him lead her back to the gate.  He might not agree with her, but there was little any of them could do at the moment.

X*X*X*X*X

Belle burrowed further under the tarp, settling herself close to Rush as he looped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her into his embrace.  Night had fallen and the rain pelting down on them made her shiver with cold.  She’d put her jacket back on at his insistence, but it didn’t seem to be helping much.  There was something that niggled at the back of her mind, some inner warning system trying to alert her to danger.  Eli sat on her other side, as close as he could without actually touching her in an effort to keep warm.  Rush wasn’t very happy about it, if his glowering countenance was any indication, but she was grateful for the boy’s added body heat.

Scott had his team patrolling in closer proximity to the gate, trying to keep everyone together as the rain made visibility limited.  Eli pulled the tarp forward, ducking back so the rain wouldn’t splash into his face.  “Well, this couldn’t get much worse,” he complained.

Rush closed his eyes, praying for patience.  “I’m afraid that’s a failure of imagination,” he said dryly.

Belle laid her head on his shoulder, her lips brushing against the shell of his ear.  “Don’t be mean to Eli, Nicholas,” she purred softly, reveling in the shiver that tripped through his body, knowing it had little to do with the weather.  “Need I remind you of our earlier discussion of working together?” she asked, pressing her lips to his chilled flesh just beneath his ear as her arm snaked around his waist.

Rush turned his dark sable gaze on her, a smirk curling his lips.  “If I recall correctly, didn’t that discussion have something to do with not being able to call you Miss French since I’d already had my tongue in your mouth?” he asked, his voice barely carrying over the sound of the rain.  His breath fanned hotly against her lips as he rested his brow to hers and it was her turn to shiver.  “Ah, I see you remember as well.”

“Top five desert island movies,” Eli said, his voice loud as he stared off into the distance, trying to pretend that he was oblivious to the tender moment between the couple beside him.

Rush glared at him over the top of Belle’s head.

“What?!  It’ll help pass the time!” the boy said defensively.

Rush shook his head, despairing that his protégé would never take anything seriously.

“OK, I'll go first. ‘Hackers’. Obvious, I know. ‘The Matrix’," Eli said, chuckling softly. ‘Old School’ - you've gotta have something to make you laugh, right?” His nose crinkled as he screwed up his face in concentration.  “If trilogies count as one, then all three original ‘Star Wars’, but if only one, then-then ‘Empire’. Uh, four…Man, this is hard! I could pick so many! Maybe it should be top ten.”

Belle shifted in Rush’s embrace so she could turn to look at her friend.  “What is this ‘Star Wars’ you keep going on about?  It’s not the first time I’ve heard you mention it.  Is it a game or something?” she asked, tilting her head to the side to study him curiously.

Eli’s eyes rounded to the size of dinner plates and Rush couldn’t stop the smirk that curled up at the corner of his mouth.  “Wh--?  How?  Seriously?” he spluttered.  “How can you not know what ‘Star Wars’ is?  It’s only like the greatest series of movies of the twentieth century!  You had to have been living under a rock all your life not to have heard of ‘Star Wars’.”

Belle frowned.  She had seen movies with her friends in Storybrooke, mostly ones that Red and Emma had termed ‘chick flicks’, but she didn’t care for the moving images on the screen that had been so strange to her when she’d been released from Regina’s basement dungeon.  Gold had tried to get her to watch several movies with him on the flat screen in his living room, but spending time with him, curled up against his side had usually led to more pleasurable activities.  And, let’s face it, she would much rather read a book than watch it acted out for her on the screen.  There was inner thought and emotion of the characters that was sadly lacking when it was portrayed by the actors.

“Face it, Eli, if Belle was forced to choose between TV and books, books would win every time,” Rush said quietly as he squeezed her hip appreciatively.  He’d always found her intellect fascinating.  She wouldn’t report to work on Monday morning spouting nonsense about some drivel she’d seen on the telly over the weekend.  Not his Belle.  She’d come to work, bring him a venti black coffee and regale him with thoughts on the books she’d read.

“But it’s ‘Star Wars’, Rush! How could she not have seen it?!”

“TJ!” Scott called, making his way over to the medic.

Rush slipped away from Belle as she listened to Eli expound on the trilogy, pulling the tarp over her head to keep her dry before he too stepped to TJ’s side.

“James is not doing well,” he said, nodding behind him.

TJ moved to grab her kit.  “Where is she?

“How many does that make now?” Rush asked, following after the two as TJ went to check on Vanessa.

“Um…that’s Chloe, Volker, Marsden, and Franklin,” she said, digging through the kit for her penlight.

“Now James too,” Scott said, rubbing at the back of his neck.

TJ noticed and pulled him to a stop.  “Wait a minute. Let me look at your eyes,” she insisted.

“No, I’m fine.”

Before he could argue with her further, a chittering sound filtered through the brush on the other side of the gate.  Brody screamed and Rush turned to stare in horror as some kind of creature with a long whipping tail burrowed itself into the engineer’s chest.  Still screaming, he stumbled backwards and fell to the muddy ground.  The officers quickly picked up their weapons and sprang into action, firing into the jungle in all directions.  With their visibility impaired, it wasn’t likely they could even see what they were aiming at.

Rush raced back to where Eli had pulled Belle behind the log they’d been sitting on, grabbing for her and pulling her behind him.  “Dial!  Dial the gate!” he shouted at Eli to be heard over the din of gunfire and screaming.

Belle trembled as she hurried after him.  She had little choice but to follow with the vise-like grip he had on her wrist.  He pulled his radio from his belt and pressed the com button, screaming over the shrieks of terror that seemed to surround them.  “Destiny, come in!  If you can hear me, please respond!”

“Nicholas! What’s happening?” she asked as he pulled her into a crouch beside the ramp and pressed her face into his shoulder, trying to shield her from the sight of their dying friends.

“Why aren’t they answering?” Eli asked, crouching down on her other side to offer her further protection as his eyes scanned the melee for Chloe.

“I don’t know!” Rush shouted back.

Eli stared up at the puddle shimmering in the gate and squinched his eyes to free his vision of rain.  “Why is it doing that?” he asked, pointing to the static-like fritzing that disrupted the surface.

Greer joined them near the ramp, calling behind him to the huddled group.  “We’ve gotta get out of here!” he yelled, firing off more rounds.

“We can’t,” Rush hissed frantically.

Spencer barely had one foot on the ramp before another creature sprang at him and burrowed itself in his chest.  Greer turned, firing repeatedly with no clear aim as more of them encroached upon the clearing, seeking their next victim.  One of his stray bullets clipped the Kino and it tumbled to the ground, useless for flight now, though it continued to film.  Scott went down at the base of the ramp, one of the creatures latched onto his left shoulder.  Greer abandoned Rush, Belle and Eli and hurried to Scott’s side, grabbing the creature by its thrashing tail and pulling it off the lieutenant before it could burrow into his chest, hurling it away from the fallen man and firing off several shots into it.

Eli’s head whipped around as Chloe’s piercing shriek filled the night.  She fell to her knees as one of the creatures burrowed into her chest with a loud squelching noise.  With no recourse, she fell face forward onto the jungle floor, her eyes staring sightlessly ahead.  The creature erupted from her back and slithered away back into the jungle chittering madly.

X*X*X*X*X

The Kino footage froze on the screen of Eli’s laptop as he paused it, his eyes round as dinner plates as he stared in horror.  Chloe sprang to her feet and darted out into the large circular common room just outside of Eli’s personal quarters, emptying her stomach into the trash bin next to one of the metal benches set up there.  TJ rushed after her to make sure she’d be all right.

Eli whirled around in his chair, his gaze swinging back and forth between the others crowded into his room.  “Alright!  What the hell is that?” he gasped incredulously.

Belle wrapped her arms about herself, fighting against the tremors that seemed to radiate from her spine as she sat still as a statue on the edge of Eli’s bunk.  Rush leaned against the wall next to her, for once silent and still in stunned silence.

When the ship had dropped out of FTL, Eli had sent the Kino through.  Standard procedure before he, Rush, Scott and Greer had gone through the wormhole to survey the immediate vicinity surrounding the gate before allowing the rest of the team to follow.  Eli had been flummoxed as to why another Kino would be there waiting for them, and had immediately come back to the ship to review the footage it might hold.  He’d never thought to find this, however.  “How could we have been there?  I think I would have remembered!”

TJ helped Chloe back into the room, the girl resuming her place next to Belle who wrapped her arm around her friend.  “How?” she asked, still clearly shaken.

“I don’t know,” Rush said.

“Well, considering the sickness that overwhelmed several of the team while on the planet, I think it would be a good idea to quarantine those that went down to the planet and anyone who came in contact with them.  Just to be on the safe side,” TJ announced, staring pointedly at Eli and Rush.

“No, wait a second,” Scott scoffed.  “You’re worried because people got sick on this recording which never happened.”

“Well, we don’t know that,” Rush replied in a quiet tone.

“What are you saying?” the colonel questioned from where he leaned against the opposite wall.

“Well that is clearly us, Colonel.  The recording happened somehow,” he said, lifting his hands to gesture at Eli’s computer.

Eli’s face scrunched up in concentration.  “What do you think was wrong with the gate?” he asked, thinking aloud.

“Looks like the wormhole connection was unstable.  It would have been extremely…” Belle said.

“…dangerous to even attempt travel,” Rush finished for her.

Eli arched a brow and blinked at the pair of scientists.  “Would you two please stop doing that?  It weirds me out!”

TJ ducked her head so Eli couldn’t see the grin playing at her lips before rising to go and coordinate the quarantine.  Greer stood stiffly next to the colonel, his eyes locked on the frozen image of Chloe’s dead body.

“So, do we keep watching?” Eli asked hesitantly, not thrilled at the prospect.

Belle shot to her feet and moved to the door.  “I’m going to see if I can help TJ,” she said over her shoulder, not wishing to see what happened to the rest of the team.  She knew instinctively it wouldn’t end well.

Rush caught up with her in the corridor.  “Belle!  Belle, wait!” he called, finally reaching out to stop her with a hand to her shoulder, turning her to face him.  She stared at her feet as she waited for him to speak.  He lifted her chin, his face falling in dismay as he saw the tears falling unchecked over her waxen cheeks.  “Oh, mo ghrá, no.  Don’t cry,” he murmured against her dark hair as he pulled her into his arms.  “It didn’t happen, Belle.”

She sobbed brokenly in his embrace, taking small comfort in his tenderness.  “I just watched my friends die, Nicholas.  It most assuredly did happen.  In some alternate reality or parallel universe or something!  But it did happen,” she cried.

He stroked his hand over her nape, gently kneading the knot of tension there.  “We’ll figure this out,” he assured her, lifting her chin again to brush his lips to hers in a gentle kiss.  “Come back with me.  TJ has everything under control and you don’t need to be alone right now.”

“I can’t watch you die on that video, Rush!” she said angrily, pushing out of his embrace.  “I won’t watch you die!”

He caught her hand before she could make good on her escape and pulled her back against his chest.  “You won’t have to, Belle.  Please, just come with me.  You don’t have to watch.”  He pulled her iPhone from the back pocket of the fatigues she wore and held it up for her to see.  “You can listen to your music, ok?”

She sagged against his chest in defeat.  Her courage, the bravery she prided herself on seemed to have deserted her.  She merely wanted to retreat to their quarters and burrow her head under the pillow.  How could she abandon him to that video, have him possibly watch her death and not remain with him?  It wasn’t so much that he couldn’t get through watching the remainder of that video by himself.  No, it was that he cared so much for her, he didn’t want her to be alone, didn’t want her to dwell on what she’d seen.  He wanted to soothe and comfort her in her distress…just as she’d always done for him from the moment he’d let her into his life so many years ago.

Belle took the phone from him and slipped it back into her pocket before offering him a weak smile.  It pained her that she was responsible for the anxiety in his gaze and she reached up to press her lips to his in a gentle kiss of reassurance, uncaring of who might stumble upon them in the corridor.

He crushed her to him, burying his face in the crook of her neck, breathing her in.  “We’re prepared now, my Belle.  We won’t be going offworld.  It won’t happen.”  He pulled back and cradled her cheek in his warm palm.  “I won’t let any harm come to you.”

“I know, Nicholas,” she murmured, taking a deep breath to steady her pounding heart.  “I—“

“Rush, are you coming?” Eli called, coming around the corner in search of him.  “We’re waiting and…oh…”  He trailed off, looking away from what he was sure had been a private moment.  “Sorry.”

Belle slipped her hand into Rush’s and twined her fingers with his, nodding hesitantly.  “It’s ok, Eli, we’re coming.”

“You’re sure?” Rush asked as Eli turned and headed back to his quarters.

“I’m sure.”

Rush inhaled sharply, the knot of anxiety in his chest easing considerably at her acquiescence.  Young shot them an impatient frown as they returned to Eli’s quarters and sat on the bunk.  Rush cast him a blank look, uncaring if the man was upset or not.  He tucked Belle into his side and wrapped an arm about her shoulders in a comforting embrace, nodding at Eli to restart the video from where they’d left off.

“Can’t you fast forward this part?” Chloe asked, shuddering at the sight of her dead body frozen on the screen.  It was all too surreal for her.

“Oh…yeah…sure,” Eli said, fast forwarding the video and then pressing play as he sat back to watch.

X*X*X*X*X

The Kino footage wavered as the device was positioned and Eli’s face appeared on the screen, his face tight and drawn as he struggled not to cry.  “Chloe’s dead,” he said, choking back a sob.  “So is James, Park, Spencer, Marsden, Brody…all dead,” He blinked rapidly, trying desperately not to break down.  “Something's wrong with the Gate. Rush doesn't think we can risk using it, even with what's happened.”

He picked up a roll of duct tape and tore off a strip, seemingly to bind the broken Kino to one of the military helmets so he could continue to film.  “We can't reach Destiny on radio either, so apparently we're trapped here. There's twenty-two hours until Destiny jumps back into F.T.L.  The creatures seem to be nocturnal. They stopped coming once the sun came up. Hopefully the Gate will start working before it gets dark again.”  He added more tape to the Kino, attaching it to the helmet.  “Apparently we don't have much ammunition left.”

“Eli. What are you doing?” Rush asked, watching Eli lift the helmet and place it on his head.

The homemade helmet cam panned slowly around the base of the ramp and those who had survived the night.  Scott was lying unconscious on the ground next to TJ where she kept watch over him.  Franklin sat nearby, arching a brow at Eli’s new invention.  Belle sat with her back against the ramp, her eyes closed as she lifted her face up to the sun, Rush pacing next to her, shaking his head wearily.

“Leave him be, Nicholas.  He’s trying to be productive,” she scolded gently, reaching out to him and pulling him down next to her.  Her hands found the tense muscles of his neck and kneaded at them with a firm touch.  “You should rest while you can.  If tonight is anything like…”

Eli made his way over to a blanket-shrouded body and pulled it back to reveal Volker beneath the cover.  “Volker wasn’t killed by the creatures.  TJ says he died of the illness during the night.” The Kino panned around once again to show the remains of their group.  “Everyone seems to be coming down with symptoms at this point…”

“Eli!” Rush snapped, glaring angrily at the boy.

Eli whirled on him, equally furious and stressed to his breaking point.  He’d lost Chloe, his best friend…the woman he loved if he were honest with himself…not to mention in fear for his own life and those that remained.  “Do I need to point out yet again that documenting this could be important?!”

Back on Destiny, Eli paused the video and cast an accusing glare at Rush.  “See!  What did I tell you!?!”

Rush rolled his eyes and gestured for him to resume the video, refusing to admit he was wrong even though in this instance they’d have all been subject to the horrors on the Kino without Eli’s obsession for filming everything.

The recording started up once again to show Eli bending over Scott where he lay on the stretcher Franklin and Rush had made for him.  “Scott was bitten by one of the creatures.  He’s now in a coma.”

TJ reached up, resting the back of her hand to his brow, checking for fever.  “Eli, you ok?” she asked worriedly.

Eli snorted as the Kino panned to the left, over the shrouded members of their deceased team.  “Huh!  Compared to most everyone else…” he scoffed, letting his words trail away.

The video skipped ahead, Greer jogging into the clearing.  “I’ve found a cave that might offer us a bit more protection than leaving us out here in the open,” he said.  “It might give us a chance at least.”

Belle and TJ didn’t bat an eye as they rose and began gathering up their supplies.  They shouldered a good bit of the packs as Rush, Franklin, Eli and Greer carried the stretcher bearing Lt Scott through the jungle.  The cave Greer had found would provide them adequate shelter and a more defensible position than the area near the gate.  The men brought Scott’s prone body into the cave and deposited him on the ground where TJ could check his wound while Eli collapsed next to him, breathing heavily.

“Oh, I’m so going to whip your ass into shape when we get back to the ship,” Belle chuckled, handing him a canteen as he fought to catch his breath.  “It’s all well and good to be a brilliant math genius, Eli, but how long do you think you’ll last if you don’t take care of your body?”

His brows disappeared under his fringe of dark bangs.  “I don’t really like to exercise,” he said, the tremor in his voice belying what was really on his mind…on everyone’s mind.  IF we make it back to the ship.  “And I shouldn’t have to when I’m not the only one out of shape.”  He cast a pointed look at Rush who in turn snorted as he drank from his own canteen.  “You’d never catch him jogging all over the ship.”

Belle smiled slyly as she leaned over to whisper in the boy’s ear.  “You’d be amazed by what I can make Dr. Rush do, Eli,” she murmured silkily where Rush couldn’t hear.

Eli’s mouth fell open in stunned horror.  “Oh…Oh just…ewww!  Could you please not tell me things like that?”

A peal of laughter echoed through the cave, enjoying being able to tease her friend.  

Although Rush might not have heard her, the Kino picked up everything and everyone watching the footage in Eli’s quarters turned to stare at her with barely concealed snickers.  She blushed furiously and averted her gaze from the bemused smirk on Rush’s thin lips.  His look clearly said they’d be having a discussion about that later when they were alone.

The Kino’s camera followed her as she rose to her feet and moved to stand beside Rush and Greer.  “We need to bury our dead, Ronald.  We can’t just leave them there,” she said, lowering her eyes as she thought of the friends they’d lost.

Greer nodded, his brows drawn together in a dark frown.  “You’re right, Miss Belle.”

       

Rush curled his hand around her fingers and squeezed.  “Rest.”  He held up a hand when she opened her mouth to protest.  “That wasn’t a request.”  He drew her forward and pressed his lips to her brow.  His eyes were dark and brooding and she simply nodded, not wishing to argue with him.  He followed Greer from the cave, his shoulders set with determination, trusting her to obey him.

She watched him move through the brush until she couldn’t see him anymore before she returned to Eli’s side and laid back against her pack, curling up on her side so she could still keep an eye on him as he talked quietly to TJ.

His expression clearly showed his melancholy and Belle’s heart went out to him, knowing this had to be harder on him that the rest of the team.  “I have a lot of respect for people who do what you do,” he said, watching TJ closely as she changed the bandage on Scott’s shoulder.  “It’s not easy, I can tell.  It really affects you when you can’t help people.”

“It does,” the medic agreed, offering him a wan smile.

“My mom was a nurse.  She got stuck by a needle trying to restrain a junkie in the ER.  She got HIV.”

Belle sat up and reached out for his hand, squeezing it reassuringly, silently telling him that she was there for him, that she cared for him and the pain that must have caused him.

Back on Destiny, Belle rose from the bunk and moved to sit beside him, wrapping an arm around his wide shoulders.  Chloe did the same, sitting on his other side as she too offered him her sympathy.  He hung his head as the recording continued, silently fighting back tears as he heard his other self speak in a listless voice about how his father couldn’t take the fact that his mother was sick and had decided to leave them.

“I’m so sorry,” Belle said, her eyes burning with unshed tears.

“You have any family, Belle?” he asked, genuinely curious.

She looked down at their joined hands.  “I did…long ago.  I haven’t seen my father in ten years,” she said wistfully, wondering if he even still lived…or even if he was in this land.

His brows drew together in a puzzled frown, wondering over the underlying tone of what she wasn’t saying.  He sighed, his lower lip trembling.  “I’m really afraid that my mom is just gonna give up if I die out here.”

On Destiny, Eli closed his eyes, his grief overwhelming.  It was compounded by the fact that he’d left himself so vulnerable in front of his crewmates.  He ducked his head and surreptitiously swiped at the tears glistening on his lashes.  Belle squeezed his shoulder and Chloe took his hand, lending their support.

Eli glanced over at Chloe as she rubbed at her left temple.  “Hey, you alright?” he asked, worried over her ashen complexion.

“My head hurts,” she murmured, offering him a weak smile as she rose to her feet.  “Maybe if I just take a walk I’ll—“

She didn’t get a chance to finish as she swayed unsteadily on her feet and tipped forward.  Scott, standing a few paces behind them, rushed forward and caught her before she could crash to the floor.

Young recovered from his slouch against the wall, holding up a hand to forestall Eli and Belle from crowding Chloe in their desire to help.  “What just happened?”

“I don’t know,” Scott said, lifting her head onto his lap.  “Uh, she started complaining that her head hurt and she just dropped.”

Rush frowned down at her prone form.  “It’s been three hours since we dropped out of FTL.  That’s about the time people began to get sick on the planet in the recording.”

Scott lifted her into his arms and headed towards the infirmary, hoping TJ would be able to shed some light on their newest predicament.

TJ hurried to Scott’s side, leaving her current patient and pointing him to a bed where he could lay Chloe down for her to examine her.  “What happened?”

“She was complaining of a headache and just collapsed,” Scott explained, stepping out of the medic’s way as she peeled back one of the girl’s lids to check her pupil response.

She glanced over at Everett, who’d followed them to the infirmary.  “I’ve got four more cases…so far everyone who went to the planet or came in contact with someone who did.”

“Can it be contained?”

TJ shrugged.  “I don’t know, but whatever it is, it’s extremely virulent.”

“On the recording, Eli said Volker died because of it,” he replied.

“How quickly?”

Young leveled her with a pointed stare, hating to be the bearer of bad news, but seeing no way around it.  “Within twelve hours.”

X*X*X*X*X

Rush leaned against the wall at his back and suppressed a yawn as his eyes skimmed over Belle’s bare back, his fingers itching to roam over her delicate ivory flesh.  She paced restlessly in the confined space of Eli’s quarters, alternating between watching the recording and hovering near the door to see if Scott would come back bearing news of her friend.

“I’m sure he’ll contact us on the radio if there’s any news,” Eli said, pausing the footage.  “Right?”

Belle nodded and waved a hand towards the screen, urging him to continue before her courage failed her and she wouldn’t be able to watch anymore.  Already it was getting darker in the video, signaling nightfall was fast approaching.  She shuddered as she thought of the creatures that had destroyed half their team and she was forced to wrap her arms around herself to still her trembling.

She raised a dubious brow at Greer as she watched him on the recording teach Eli the basics on firing his semi-automatic rifle.  Of course, Eli cast her a brilliant smile over his shoulder, proud of his other self for being a quick learner.  But what had her eyes widening in surprise was when the master sergeant stepped behind her and wrapped her hands around a Glock.

“Now, see!” she cried, her voice rising in pitch.  “This confirms that this will never happen.  I hate guns.”  Another time and place flitted across her mind’s eye.  A time when Rumpel had forced her to take his handgun in order to protect herself, a certain pirate and the loss of her memories.  She caressed the tea cup pendant resting just beneath her collarbone and sighed, thankful for the charm he’d given her so long ago.  It will protect you, sweetheart.  My magic will not fail you.

Greer grinned at her, in no way sensing her inner struggle with the long dead memory of her lost love.  “Aw, come on, Miss Belle.  That will be the next step in your offensive training,” he said with a chuckle.

Rush snorted.  Just what they all needed…his temperamental assistant with a gun!

Belle shook her head, firm in her decision to forego that part of her training with the marine and focused once more on the screen, watching herself and Eli help Greer plant C4 explosives in the huge mounds the creatures seemed to dwell in.  It would in no way take out all of them, but the ones they were able to blow up were that many less they’d have to waste their precious ammunition on.

The footage showed their return to the cave where TJ was caring for Scott and Franklin, who had now slipped further into his illness, his large body still and listless.  Rush entered moments later, the Kino remote clutched in his hand, his hair slicked back away from his face, wet with the rain that had begun to fall.

“Did using the other remote help?” Eli asked as soon as Rush made his way over to them.

“I was able to get a connection, but the wormhole’s still unstable.  Nothing from Destiny on the radio either,” he said, frowning when he noticed Franklin would be no help that night in their battle against the creatures…not that he was ever of any real help, he thought with disgust.

“Well is it broken or is there a chance it could resolve by itself?” Eli asked, exasperated.

Rush shook his head in frustration.  “There are any number of things that could be causing temporary interference.  We have eleven hours until Destiny is supposed to jump back into FTL, but there’s no way of telling how long this problem is going to last.”

Eli threw his hands up before raking them through his damp locks.  “And I guess it would be crazy to just try and go anyway.”

“Look, we can’t assume that the gate is actually even connecting to Destiny.  There would be very little chance of surviving an unstable wormhole,” Rush assured him.  He didn’t add that he would never chance such a thing with Belle’s life.

Belle took the opportunity to contact TJ on the radio to check on Chloe while Eli fast forwarded through what seemed to be a lull in their activity.  Unfortunately, there had been no change and more and more of the crew were falling ill.  She’d just hooked her radio back on the belt of her fatigues when she noticed, on the screen, the rain had picked up and night had fully fallen.

She was crouched down between Rush and Eli, the flashlights they’d rigged around the perimeter of the cave barely illuminating the clearing.  

A violent shudder wracked her small frame as the sound of the creatures chittering noises echoed throughout Eli’s quarters from the speakers.

Rush slipped his arms around her, turning her quickly and pressing her face to his shoulder.  “Don’t look, mo chroí,” he crooned softly, feeling the tremors he could do little to soothe.  He rubbed her back, closing his eyes as he relished the feel of her bare skin beneath his hands.  He paid scant attention to the screen, his focus on the girl in his arms.He kept a tight grip on her, watching the remaining footage on the screen.

Eli’s planetary counterpart switched on the night vision on the Kino remote, revealing the creatures swiftly advancing on them.  Belle jerked violently in startled surprise as the sound of gunfire permeated the room.  He shouldn’t have made her stay.  He should have let her help TJ or even seek the solace of their quarters.  This was taking more of a toll on her than he’d thought it would.

Completely out of ammunition, Rush threw the rifle on the ground and dug frantically in the pack beside him for the Kino remote.  Without a word to Greer or Eli, he grabbed Belle’s hand and dragged her behind him across the clearing and through the jungle, screams ringing out behind them to be lost beneath the sound of the pouring rain.

“Rush!  We can’t leave them!” Belle shrieked as he stopped at the ramp leading up to the gate, already dialing.

“And we can’t stay and die!” he yelled back.  “This is our only chance!”

Eli burst through the foliage and gaped at Rush as if he’d lost his mind.  “What the hell?” he cried.

Rush stopped with one foot on the ramp, Belle’s hand clasped securely in his.  He turned to Eli.  “Someone has to try.  Look, I’ll radio if we make it.  You’ll know it’s safe.”

“But…but you said…” Eli spluttered as the gate fritzed with static, but the doctor paid him no heed.

Rush pulled Belle into his arms and kissed her soundly.  “You trust me?”

“This again!? Of course I do!” she hissed in exasperation, rolling her eyes as he grabbed hold of her wrist and started up the ramp.

“Belle?”

“Yeah?” she murmured as they neared the wormhole, fighting back the terror rising in her throat to choke her.

“I love you.”

She turned her head to look at him, her mouth falling open in breathless amazement, unable to respond before he pulled her through the fritzing puddle.

Rush cursed inwardly as Belle stiffened in his arms, her wide eyes rising to his face.  Shit! This is not how I wanted her to find out, damnit!  “Eli, fast forward!”

“Rewind!” she hissed, whirling back to see the screen.  No, no, no, no!  I couldn’t have heard him say that!  He couldn’t love me!

“Belle…” he said, reaching out a beseeching hand, but she wouldn’t turn to face him, calmly shushing him as she focused on the screen.  Rush groaned.  She had Eli play it over three times before she was satisfied.  Did all this have to come out in view of witnesses!?!

Belle studied his counterpart’s face, taking in the tenderness and love radiating from those sable orbs she knew so well.  No!  Her analytical mind refused to process it.  She crossed her arms over her chest, rubbing briskly at her arms.  She felt as though she were trying to hold herself together under the onslaught of this new information.  She hated that feeling.  She hadn’t felt this anxious in years and she refused to let it eat at her now.

She raised her chin obstinately and pasted a bright smile on her lips that belied the turmoil roiling and churning in her stomach.  “Well…we all say things we don’t mean when we think we’re going to die.”

Eli shifted uncomfortably, waiting for her word to resume the video while Greer whistled softly.

“Belle, I—“ Rush began only to have her cut him off.

“Go on, Eli.  Let’s bloody well finish this, shall we?” she asked, her voice sharp enough to cut through steel.  If she and Rush were going to have this conversation, it would have to wait until they no longer had an audience and the crisis had been averted.

Young had returned and stood silently in the doorway.  He lowered his gaze and groaned at this new development.  He pulled Greer to the side.  “Keep her away from any active consoles,” he whispered in an aside.  Greer cast him a puzzled look and he shook his head.  “Just trust me.”

“Colonel Young, Dr. Rush,” came TJ’s voice over the radio.  “Can you please come to the infirmary?”

Eli paused the recording and turned in time to see the two men leave his quarters.  Belle sank down onto his bunk and leveled him with a determined stare.  “Rewind it.”

X*X*X*X*X

**  
  
**

Everett smirked at Rush as they entered the infirmary, barely able to hide his amusement at the doctor’s present predicament with his assistant.  Rush did his best to ignore him as he stepped up the microscope TJ pointed to on the table.

He looked into the eyepiece and frowned at the tiny squiggly forms through the viewer.  “What is it?” he asked, stepping back so Young could have a look as well.

“Some sort of micro-organism,” TJ replied.

Young blinked several times as he stepped back.  “Something brought back from the planet?”

TJ shook her head.  “Not the planet they just went to.  The planet you and Scott went to…the ice planet,” she explained.

The colonel leaned his shoulder against the wall as he regarded her steadily.  “That was weeks ago.  How do you know?”

“This is a sample of the water we’ve been drinking, isn’t it?” Rush asked, taking a seat on the stool next to the table.

“When people outside the quarantine started coming down with symptoms, I knew we needed to look for another common source.”

“But we tested it at the time,” Young argued.

TJ shrugged.  “At the time, we couldn’t see it.  The microscope just wasn’t powerful enough.  The organism was just too small.  It’s possible that a batch of water wasn’t purified properly and it contaminated the rest.”

“So we've all got it?” the colonel asked, needing confirmation.

“Well, everyone's immune system is different. The time it takes for symptoms to emerge will vary, but once it's strong enough to pass from the blood to the nervous system, it works fast - and the antibiotics won't cut it.”

Rush pushed himself off the stool and headed for the door.  “Perfect!” he growled.  Just one more problem to add to many.  Impending doom and an angry Belle…he didn’t know which would be more painful.

X*X*X*X*X

Eli tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for Young and Rush to return.  Belle sat still as a statue on his bunk alternating from worry and agitation or some combination of the two as she thought of what she’d seen on the recording regarding Rush’s feelings for her.  Greer leaned against the wall near the door still shaken from watching his counterpart’s gruesome death, though he tried to hide it.

“Alright, Eli, let’s be done with this,” Rush snarled as he came into the room and stood behind the boy.

Eli spun around on his bench, anxious for news of Chloe.  “Wait, how’s Chloe?  Is she any better?  Has TJ been able to help her?”

“No, she hasn’t,” Young murmured softly as he came in behind Rush.  “It seems our water supply is contaminated.  That’s what is making everyone sick, and as it stands…things don’t look good.”

Rush snorted.  “Quite the understatement, Colonel,” he sneered, waving a hand at Eli impatiently.

Eli pressed play once again and the camera seemed to by lying on its side, giving them a good view of Lt Scott lying on the stretcher…surprisingly, making signs of coming out of his coma.  Belle lowered her eyes, her fingers toying with her pendant, unable to watch the sheer horror on the young lieutenant’s face or hear the despair in his voice as he discovered the fate of his team.

The Kino camera swung wildly as he made his way through the jungle back towards the gate, using the remote he’d taken from Eli’s lifeless hand to dial back to Destiny.  It wasn’t promising that the puddle was still fritzing erratically.

“It’s forty five minutes until Destiny jumps back into FTL,” he said brokenly as he choked back a sob.  “Everyone here is dead except me.  I don’t remember much after we were attacked the first night.  One of the creatures bit me and I lost consciousness.  I’d started to feel sick, headache, pain in the back of the neck.  The bite still hurts like a bitch, but everything else is…is better.”  He swung the Kino towards the gate to reveal the still fritzing puddle.

The Kino zoomed back in on his face.  “Uh, the gate still doesn’t seem to be working, and I can’t reach Destiny on the radio.  I’m hoping it’s just a communications problem and that everything else is…is ok up there.  I’m sending this through and I’m expecting that you will send some sort of a signal that it is safe to proceed.  I will wait as long as I can, then I’ll head through regardless.  On my own, I likely won’t survive the night here.”

Scott lowered the Kino and carried it up the ramp towards the fritzing event horizon, pausing only a moment before tossing it through the wormhole.  A split second later it emerged on the other side of the puddle, spinning through the air as it fell.  The images were distorted as it rolled down the ramp, but it was clear the device hadn’t made it to the ship.  As the spinning slowed and came to a stop, the camera showed a clear picture of two more of the crew that had perished…Rush and Belle.

Belle bit down on her lip, a whimper escaping her throat as her eyes filled with tears.  She turned away, rising to her feet to leave the room, unable to look upon Rush’s lifeless body.  She walked out into the common room adjoining Eli’s quarters, surprised when Rush let her go without a fuss.

Eli paused the footage, waving his hands excitedly at the screen.  “What…just…happened?!”

Young looked to Rush for answers.  The doctor was staring at the screen through narrowed eyes, realization dawning in his dark eyes.  “It went back in time.”  He turned and walked out of Eli’s quarters, catching Belle’s eye as he did so.  She fell into step behind him without question.  She knew that look of anxiety that settled so firmly on his visage.  It meant he had a new problem to solve and little time to do it.

Eli, Young and Greer also followed after him as he beat a hasty retreat to the gate room.  “What are you doing, Rush?” the colonel called after him.

“I’m making sure it hasn’t happened yet,” he answered, taking up his position behind the primary console to dial the gate.

“What hasn’t happened yet?” Eli asked, pacing anxiously in front of the console.

Rush shook his head to dislodge the hair that had fallen into his eyes as he met Eli’s querulous gaze.  “A solar flare.  It’s the only explanation.  If a wormhole’s trajectory takes it too close to a star and it passes through an active solar flare…”

“…it can cause it to move forwards or backwards in time,” Belle finished for him, her eyes widening in surprise.  “I thought that was just a theory.”

“Apparently not,” he continued, looking down into her thoughtful gaze.  He could practically hear the gears grinding in her brilliant mind.  “And in some cases, the wormhole can actually loop back around and connect to the same gate in a different time…in this case, the past.”

Eli raked both of his hands through his hair, pulling at the dark strands.  “Whoa!  Whoa!  Ok, this is making my brain hurt.”

Belle smiled indulgently at the boy as Rush continued.  “The us on that recording dropped out of FTL and went to the planet.  Sometime later a solar flare occurred, preventing normal gate travel.”

“So, Scott thought that he was sending the Kino back to Destiny, but he was actually sending it back to the planet…but in the past,” Eli said, his brow furrowed in concentration as he tried to work it out in his head.  “God!  That is so weird to think that was really us on the Kino.”

He nodded.  “Us in a previous, unaltered timeline, modified now by the introduction of the Kino from the future,” Rush said, leaning his palms on the console.

The gate finished dialing and the event horizon whooshed forward before settling into its puddle.  “Why are we dialing the gate back there, doc?” Greer asked, a puzzled frown on his dark brow.

Rush rubbed at the back of his neck, sighing wearily as he studied the data on his console.  “As I said, to make sure the solar flare that disrupted gate travel hasn’t happened yet.”  He was pleased to see the puddle shimmer and ripple with the absence of the fritzing static.  “Thankfully it hasn’t.”

“Yeah, but why do we care about that?” the master sergeant persisted.

Belle laid her hand on Rush’s arm, drawing his troubled gaze to her.  “You think we might have to go back there, don’t you?”

“Yes.  Yes I do.”

X*X*X*X*X

TJ stood in Eli’s quarters, having been dragged away from her patients to watch Scott’s report on the footage.  “…I’d started to feel sick, headache, pain in the back of the neck.  The bite still hurts like a bitch, but everything else is…is better.”

Eli paused the playback and glanced at her expectantly.  Scott still looked unsure.  TJ shrugged.  “It’s possible, I guess.  The venoms of various animals…snakes, spiders, scorpions…they’ve all been tested for their antibiotic properties.”

Scott cast her a dubious look.  “What?  You’re saying that thing that bit me can actually cure what’s making everyone sick?”

“Well, you fell into a coma.  It obviously releases some sort of venom when it bites.  You apparently survived and said you were feeling better,” she said, pointing to his image on the screen as proof.

Eli made a choked sound of distress in the back of his throat as he turned to stare at her incredulously.  “But…you’re just guessing.  And those things were…” he paused, his hands curling into claws as his gaze flitted back to the screen.  “…well…”

“Based on this video,” she explained, ”people are going to die from this infection, and quickly.”  She turned her worried gaze on the colonel.  “I know it seems like a wild stab in the dark, but I don’t know what else to do.  This may very well be our best chance.”

“Well, we’ve all been exposed, so it’s just a matter of time before we all get it, right?” he asked, sighing when TJ nodded.  “I’ll put a team together.”

X*X*X*X*X

Young pulled his tactical vest over his uniform and fastened the buckles over his chest.  Spencer, Scott and Greer were suiting up to go with him.  He could only hope they would be successful.

Belle fiddled with the Kino remote as she stood next to Rush at the console.  “We’re getting readings, Colonel.  Thankfully, it’s still daylight.”

Young hefted his pack onto his back and checked his weapon, nodding.

“According to the time stamp on the recording, you have an hour ‘til the first team lost contact because of the solar flare,” Eli said, helping Scott with his pack.

Rush leveled the colonel with a pointed stare.  “Forty five minutes, to be safe.”

“How many do you think we’ll need?” Scott asked, turning to question the medic.

“Hopefully, a small dosage of the venom will do it,” TJ replied, taking an educated guess.

“Dead or alive?” the lieutenant asked.

TJ winced, knowing her answer would make their chances of success lower.  “Alive, preferably.  I can’t exactly anticipate the physiology.”

“Not much time,” Young said, stepping forward and leading his team up the ramp to disappear through the event horizon.

“Good luck,” Rush murmured, raising a hand to rub at the back of his neck.

Belle noticed and reached up to cradle his face in her hands, recoiling when the heat of his skin met with hers.  “Gods, Nicholas!  You’re burning up,” she gasped as TJ made her way over to them to check him.

“I’m fine!” he snarled, backing away from them as he held up his hands to ward them off.

“Come on, Rush, let’s get you to the infirmary.  I have an idea,” TJ said, smiling tiredly.

“What do you have in mind?” Belle asked, linking her arm through Rush’s as TJ grabbed his other, giving the man no choice but to go along with them as they made their way out of the gate room.

Instead of leading Rush to one of the many gurneys in the room, knowing he’d fight them on it, TJ brought him over to her desk and sat him down in a chair.  “I think we need to take blood samples and see who is in the direst need for the serum I plan to make.  I don’t want anyone dying before they get their chance for the injection.”

Belle nodded.  “I think that’s very wise.  Is there anything I can do to help?” She smiled down at Rush.  “We can start with Nicholas.”

“We might as well since we have him here,” TJ agreed.

“I’m bloody well sitting right here!” he snarked, crossing his arms over his chest as he glowered at them both. “My hearing hasn’t gone and I can hear you.”

TJ rolled her eyes and brought out a syringe and tourniquet.  “Have you ever drawn blood before, Belle?  It would go a lot faster if you could assist.”

Belle bit her lip as Rush’s eyes widened, just knowing he was going to get volunteered to be her guinea pig.  “Oh no…I think not!”

“No,” Belle answered, scowling at Rush.  “But I’m a quick learner.  It’s not like we have a choice.”

TJ pushed his sleeve up on his left arm and tied the tourniquet about his bicep as Belle watched closely.  “Make a fist, Dr. Rush.”  She tossed Belle a pair of latex gloves.

Rush shot to his feet, his gaze swinging between the medic and his little assistant.  “I am not letting you turn me into a pincushion!”

Belle pressed down hard on his shoulder and he flopped back into the chair.  “This is necessary, Nicholas.  Suck it up!  Don’t tell me you’re afraid of needles.  You did fine when we had our physicals before joining Icarus.”

“But you weren’t the one wielding the needle!”

TJ turned her face away to hide the smile blooming on her lips.  “Alright, you two,” she said tapping her fore and middle fingers against the crook of his elbow.  “Pump your fist, Dr. Rush.”  Reluctantly, he obeyed.  She traced his arm with her gloved finger as she handed Belle the syringe, happy the girl’s hands remained steady.  “This is the median cubital vein, the most common for blood draws.  You should need no more than thirty cc’s for testing.”

Rush jerked his arm back as Belle neared him with the needle and TJ grabbed for it, securing it to her desk.  Belle narrowed her eyes on him as he stared back defiantly.  “Go in at an angle, Belle, and simply slip it beneath the skin and into the vein.  Really easy,” TJ said, speaking in a calm tone to set Belle at ease.  There was no easing Rush.

The needle slipped smoothly into his arm with a slight pinch, but none of the pain he’d expected.  She drew his blood into the syringe and took the cotton ball from TJ, placing it over the tiny hole in his arm as she withdrew the needle.  “See, you big baby,” Belle teased.  “I’m not completely inept.”  She handed the syringe to TJ before adding, “And you don’t get a Jolly Rancher as a prize because you had to be such a naughty boy.”

A wicked smirk curled one side of his mouth as she tapped his nose with her forefinger playfully.  “Perhaps not, mo ghrá,” he said silkily as he rose to his feet and leaned over to whisper in her ear.  “But I will get a taste, won’t I?  They taste better on your tongue anyway.”

Heat flooded her face as she arched a brow at him, nodding slowly.

TJ snorted, drawing their attention back to her.  “Dr. Rush, would you like to assist as well?  The quicker we can get this done the better.”

His dark eyes brightened considerably.  “Yes, Lieutenant, I believe I will…and I can start with Belle.”

Belle met his challenging gaze with one of her own and sat down in the chair, thrusting her arm out.  His face fell because she was in no way intimidated by a little blood draw, or the fact that he would be the one wielding the needle.  Cheeky wench!

TJ took a bit of his blood and added several drops to a slide she’d labeled with his name.  She inserted it into the microscope and hastily noted the progression of the organisms in his blood while he was seeing to Belle.  She did the same with Belle’s blood sample.

“Alright, TJ, your turn,” Belle said, readying a fresh syringe, breathing a sigh of relief that they’d found a more than adequate supply in the Ancient crates.  It didn’t take Belle quite as long to draw hers, feeling more comfortable after her success with Rush.

“I think you should both begin with the sickest of our patients and then progress to those who haven’t shown symptoms yet.”

Belle and Rush gathered a tray and the supplies necessary to set to work as well as a pen and a roll of masking tape…all that was available at the moment…to label the draws.  TJ set to work, reaching for the slide with Belle’s blood and inserting it into the microscope.

“What the hell?” she asked, rubbing the back of her hand over her brow in confusion as she turned to seek out her friend across the room.  She took up the syringe containing Belle’s blood and prepared another slide.  It revealed the same results.  Whereas the organisms had attached themselves to the red blood cells in the previous slides with the blood taken from TJ and Rush, Belle’s blood was free of the organism altogether.  “This isn’t possible.”

Rush followed Belle back to TJ’s workstation and set his tray down before filling another to take draws from the next group.  “Dr. Rush?”

“Yes, Lieutenant?” he asked, curious as to her worried expression.

“Could you please take a look at the slides?”

Rush swiveled his head, trying to relieve the pain at the back of his neck before nodding and pressing his eye to the eyepiece.  “Whose sample is this?”

“That’s yours,” she said, reaching forward to switch out the slide with her own.  “And this is mine.”

“It seems I have progressed a bit further than you,” he grumbled.  “Is this what you wanted to show me?”

“No,” she murmured, replacing her slide with Belle’s.

Rush jerked back from the microscope in surprise as his eyes met Belle’s healthy blood sample.  “How is this possible?” he asked, looking again as he increased the magnification.  It was perfectly healthy no matter how he adjusted the settings on the device.

“What’s wrong with me?” Belle asked worriedly as Rush and the medic stared at her in alarm.

“You’ve been drinking the water just like the rest of us, Belle.  How is it that you haven’t contracted this infection?” he asked, a dark frown knitting his brow.  His gaze swung back to TJ.  “Is it possible she somehow carries antibodies to fight it off?”

Belle bit her lip as she looked between them.  “There’s no chance of that.  There’s nothing like it on Earth, not to mention it’s an alien organism.  I couldn’t have—“

“She’s right, but I have no way of explaining this,” the blonde said, shaking her head as she began preparing more samples to study and catalogue from mildest to most severe.  “It could be that her immune system is just better equipped to handle the infection and it hasn’t yet manifested.  That would be my best guess.”

“Then I’ll be the last to get an injection of the serum…just to be on the safe side,” Belle said with a wry smile before she turned to begin her draws with the next group.

Rush frowned after her and rubbed a hand over the stubble on his chin.

“Dr. Rush?” TJ queried.  “Are you going to—“

“Yes, yes, lieutenant,” he said distractedly as he lifted his refilled tray and set off to work, but his mind was having more than a little difficulty on concentrating on anything other than his Belle and why she wasn’t suffering from the infection running rampant among the crew.

X*X*X*X*X

Belle twisted her fingers together nervously as she entered Eli’s quarters.  She didn’t feel right about being there when he wasn’t.  It seemed like an invasion of his privacy, but the Kino footage was supposed to be for all of them.  She was sure he would take time tomorrow to edit most of it for his documentary.

The recording was still paused at the last point they’d all seen together, Eli having left it to sit at Chloe’s side while they waited for the away team to return.  As far as she knew, he was still there awaiting his injection.  The offworld team hadn’t encountered any problems on the planet and had come back with enough of the creatures to successfully make a serum to fight off the infection.  Rush, not wanting her anywhere near the chittering beasties, sent her off to amuse herself.  Lovely, she thought bitterly.

He, no doubt, expected her to curl up with her Kindle and read one of the many books in her library or do some yoga while listening to her music…or even get some work done.  But she couldn’t get the thought of her blood sample out of her mind.  She sat back in Eli’s chair and stretched her arms over her head, yawning widely as she pressed play on his laptop.  Her stomach churned violently as she stared at the gaping hole between her doppelganger’s shoulder blades, her back to the camera and one arm slung over Rush’s back.  Even in death she’d sought his touch.

The steady hum of the FTL drive lulled her into a peaceful lassitude and she dozed off, jerking awake when Rush called for her over the radio strapped to her waistband.  “Belle, it’s time for your injection.”

“Ok,” she said with a yawn.  “I’ll be there in a few.”  She switched off the radio and put it away, reaching out to also turn off the recording…and did a double take.

She inched closer to the screen and rubbed at her eyes, doubtful of what she was seeing.  The wound on her counterpart’s back had decreased in size twofold, the skin having somehow knit back together at the edges of the gaping hole.  “What the hell?”

A violent shiver tripped up her spine as she grasped the tea cup pendant in her trembling hands and fast forwarded the video.  Her mouth gaped in horror as she watched the speeding footage, the wound closing until there was nothing left to mar her ivory flesh.  Belle on the screen took a deep breath, gasping as she sucked in a lungful of air, her head swinging back and forth in confusion.  A piercing keening cry escaped her lips and peeled through the jungle foliage as she sat up and shook Rush’s shoulder.  She cried and wailed and pleaded with him to wake and Belle covered her mouth to still her quivering lower lip as tears flooded over her ashen cheeks, her counterpart’s despair just as real as her own.  Finally the Belle on the planet rose to her feet and backed away, the Kino no longer able to follow her progress since it was no longer flight-worthy.

The repercussions crashed into Belle like a wave at high tide and the breath hitched painfully in her chest, making it hard for her to breathe.  Her fingers flew over the keyboard as she backed up the footage and deleted the recording from where they’d watched it to the end.  She then made sure to cover her tracks, making sure no one could tell she’d tampered with the footage.  Picking up the Kino remote, she then deleted it from there as well.  If anyone were to see it, she’d be strapped down to a cold metal table for experimentation faster than Rush could toss Volker from the control room.  If he didn’t turn on her as well.

She rose shakily to her feet, backing away from the console and Eli’s computer, her back slamming against the wall as she fought to take deep even breaths, her fingers clenching around her pendant.

Her lips parted on a gasp.  For ten years, since the moment Gold had fastened it around her neck, she’d never tried to remove it.  She couldn’t have his ring, but her necklace was the next best thing…her own memento, his memory preserved.  His gold…his love…his magic.  She wrapped both hands around the thin gold chain and jerked at it with all her strength…but it remained firmly secured about her pale throat.  There was no removing it. FUCK!!!

Her eyes closed as she slid down the smooth metal wall as the memory took root and projected itself prominently in her mind’s eye.  He’d still been adorned in the blue dragon hide he’d worn in Neverland as his hands rested on her shoulders and his warm lips had brushed a kiss against her nape.  “I will always protect you, my darling Belle.  Never doubt that.”

The radio crackled again and with a trembling hand she reached for it.  “Belle, where are you?” Rush asked, his brogue thick with worry.

“I’m h-here, Nicholas,” she answered, her voice weak as tears continued to leak from her closed lashes.  “I’ll be there soon, ok?”

The radio dropped to her lap as she drew her knees up and wrapped her arms around them.

“What have you done to me, Rumpel?”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Yeah, yeah I know you’re all full of WTF questions and are ready to skin me alive for the cliffie. *locks lips and tosses the key under the desk* Sorry, my loves. I won’t be revealing anything until the next chapter. Hope you decide to join us for the next installment.
> 
> And for those of you who are probably screaming at the computer screen hurling curses that even Rumpel can’t bring anyone back from the dead…I know this…and…he didn’t. Remember...Patience is a virtue (o:
> 
> Don’t forget...I’m on tumblr now at CharlotteAshmore13 so feel free to leave a prompt.
> 
> Great big shoutout to my awesome reviewers


	9. Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a bit of smutty goodness in the second section so if that's not your thing, well don't read it :D

 

“I’ll wait, if it’s all the same to you,” Rush said as he regarded the medic through narrowed eyes.  “Belle first.”

TJ gave him a blank look and then rolled her eyes as the next crew member, that hadn’t already collapsed from the virus, stepped forward to be inoculated.  “Rush, you’re burning with fever and It’s only by pure stubbornness, I’m sure, that you haven’t succumbed to unconsciousness.  Belle would want you—“

“I’ll wait for her!” he growled, pinning her with a stare that brooked no objection.

“Well, at least sit down before you fall over.  I can’t believe you haven’t already.”

“I’m still not so sure I won’t anyway,” he mumbled as he dropped onto the stool beside her workstation.  Apparently the venom she’d transformed into the serum that would save them all had some adverse side effects.  One being extreme fatigue.  He didn’t have time for a damn nap!  His work had already been placed on the back burner in light of their new crisis.  And where the hell was Belle?!

Belle shouldered her way to the front of the line as she entered the infirmary.  “TJ, how’s it going? Need any—Nicholas!  What are you still doing in here?” she asked, making her way around the table to his side.  “And you’re burning up with fever.”  She pressed the back of her hand to his brow, shrinking back when the touch nearly burned her.  “Has he had a dose, Tamara?”

“No, I bloody well have not.  I’ve called for you repeatedly over the last twenty minutes.  Where the hell have you been?  I’ve been waiting—“

Without a word, TJ pressed the inoculation gun into Belle’s hands and picked up another.  While Rush was distracted with his latest tantrum, Belle pressed the gun to his neck and pulled the trigger, the serum slowly dispensing through the tip.  He cringed, but otherwise didn’t protest.  “There,” she said softly, brushing the hair away from his brow.  “You shouldn’t have waited for me.  You’re very sick, Nicholas, and to deny yourself a life-saving injection, well, it’s bloody well stupid.”

Belle shrugged one arm out of her flak jacket and presented it to TJ who swabbed a small patch of skin and injected her with the serum.  A serum she apparently didn’t need, Belle thought bitterly.  She pulled the jacket back on and thanked TJ.

“You might want to get him to bed.  Both of you.  The serum is affecting everyone differently as far as side effects are presenting, but the majority are suffering fatigue and will want their own beds before they collapse in one of the corridors,” the medic warned with a weary smile.

“I’ll stay and help if you need it,” Belle assured her, not really wanting to have that discussion about what they’d seen on the Kino with Rush anytime soon.

“No, you go.  I only have a few people left and then I’ll be ready to find my own bed.”

Belle nodded and turned to her cantankerous boss.  And yes, though they’d started this new phase of their relationship, he was still, in fact, her boss.  He still signed her checks…sort of, she thought with a roll of her eyes.  “Alright, Nicholas, let’s get you to your quarters and—Nicholas!!” she shrieked as he pitched forward.  He would have easily toppled to the floor if she hadn’t already been there to catch him.

“What the hell, man?” Eli asked from his place in line.

Rush lifted his head and grinned at Belle, then pulled her closer and rubbed his face against her stomach, closing his eyes with a sigh of contentment.  Her face went up in flames of mortification as his arms wrapped around the backs of her thighs.  She shook his shoulder, turning slightly to shield him from the last of the marines and airmen snickering over her shoulder.  “Nicholas!” she hissed, shaking him harder.  Her brow creased in concern.  It reminded her of the time she’d found him in his office with a half empty bottle…of…scotch. Fuck!  Just what she needed...a drunk Rush.

“TJ, a little help?” she asked dolefully over her shoulder.  “Is this one of the side effects?”

The medic’s brows disappeared somewhere near her hairline, and she wasn’t able to hide her surprise.  “Wow, he must have really been sleep deprived if the serum worked this fast.”

“Aww, seems like Dr. Rush has his own personal teddy bear,” Spencer sneered from his place in line.

Belle whipped her head around, pinning him with her narrow eyed stare, but before she could reprimand the marine sergeant, Greer smacked him across the back of his bald head.  “Show some respect for Miss Belle,” he hissed.

“Damn, man, just sayin’.  Look at him,” the man protested.

Rush snuffled softly against her belly, oblivious to the fact that the military personnel in the room would have more than a fair bit of ribbing in store for him the next morning.  Belle turned back to him with a pained expression as she lifted a hand to the back of his neck and kneaded his tired muscles.  He pressed closer, his arms tightening about the backs of her thighs.

“What are you talking about?” Eli asked, his gaze swinging between Rush and TJ.

“The effects vary.  We already know it causes extreme fatigue.  Everyone knows Dr. Rush doesn’t sleep as he should, so it’s understandable the serum would affect him quickly,” she explained.

“Alright, damnit,” Belle scoffed.  “Any volunteers to help me get him to his quarters?”  Her hands wrapped tightly around his left bicep as she tried to urge him to his feet.  “Nicholas, can you stand up?  We need to go for a short walk and then you can sleep,” she cajoled in a calm tone.  It was the same she used on him when he was in a particularly foul mood.

He grumbled and again rubbed his face against her belly.  “Don’t want to,” he murmured, his voice muffled against her shirt.

She shot a pleading look at Eli when no one else stepped forward to help.  She knew Greer would have offered his help had TJ not been waiting to give him his dose of medication.  Rush slumped heavily against her as she and Eli got him into an upright position, his feet unsteady beneath him.  She winced as he buried his fever-hot face against the crook of her neck.

“Don’t feel well, Belle,” he murmured, swaying a little as he fought to keep his balance.  “What did she do to me?”

Belle glared at the marines as she passed the lot of them, Eli supporting the doctor on his right.  “It’s alright, Nicholas.  You’re just tired and the serum is making you more so,” she crooned softly as his head dropped to her shoulder.

Eli yawned.  “So, Belle, how are you?” he asked, bearing more of Rush’s weight to ease her burden.  He tried to take measured steps as they started down the dimly lit corridor.  “That couldn’t have been very easy for you to…um…y’know watch the…”

“I’m alright, Eli,” she said with a small smile, touched by the boy’s concern.

He looked thoughtful as they turned a corner.  “And you know you can’t really go by what was on the recording because I mean it really wasn’t us…not us us, y’know?  Maybe it was…but like an evil twin type of reality and…”

“Eli!” Belle admonished, shaking her head.  “Everything will be fine now.  Time travel notwithstanding, we’re fine. We were warned in time to save everyone and that’s all that matters.”

Rush snuffled softly against her neck and she could practically feel the gesture against her skin.  “My Belle,” he slurred, losing his balance and jerking away from Eli in the process.  Belle was carried along with him as he tripped into the bulkhead, trapping her between his body and the metal wall.  He grinned sleepily, his brow dropping to her shoulder as he inhaled sharply.  “You smell good.”

“It’s ok, Nicholas,” she crooned softly, petting his hair as he sighed happily.  “We’re almost there.  Can you stand up for me?  I’m a bit squished,” she lamented as Eli stood nearby trying to look anywhere but at the two of them in such an intimate position.

“Tired,” he mumbled, pressing his hot face against her cool skin, searching for relief.  “Wanna sleep.  Will you sleep with me?”

“Maybe we should have left him in the infirmary,” Eli suggested, glancing back in the direction from which they’d come.  It would be a shorter distance to return him to TJ’s care than it would to continue to the doctor’s quarters.  And the sooner he was quit of Rush’s out of character behavior, the better.  He could deal with the sniping, snarling, sneering abrasiveness or even the cool disdain and outright mocking, but this was a side of the scientist he had hoped never to see.

Belle snorted as she pushed against Rush’s shoulders and got him back to an upright position so Eli could grab his right arm.  “Yes, Nicholas, I’ll sleep with you,” she agree, pressing a kiss to his cheek.  He rumbled happily, a silly grin spreading over his face, and snuggled closer to her.  As if she’d be able to sleep on Destiny anywhere other than at his side.  She wrapped Rush’s left arm around her shoulders and looped her hand through his belt, assured that she had a good grip on him before they set off again down the long hallway towards the dome and the corridor that led to their quarters.  “Would you really want to see his reaction come morning?  I don’t think he would take kindly to us abandoning him in the infirmary.  It’s better we get him to his own bed.”

Rush’s head lolled to the right, landing on Eli’s shoulder.  He slowly turned to look at the boy and jerked upright, stiffening in affront. “Eli!  Why aren’t you working!?” he snarled in a brief moment of clarity.

“Um…I…ah,” Eli stammered under the full weight of Rush’s patented death glare.  “Would you believe I’m on my way there now?”

Belle huffed a light laugh.  “Nicholas, leave Eli alone.”

Rush swung his head around to Belle, a devilish smirk transforming his mouth as he regarded her through half hooded eyes.  “Belle…need coffee.  Work…coffee,” he mumbled, his head dropping to her shoulder again.  “…love you…my Belle…mo chroí.”

Eli coughed loudly, quickening his pace as a blush crept up his neck and continued all the way up to his hairline.  Thankfully, that was the last Rush said until the door of his quarters slid open and Eli could relieve his burden into Belle’s capable hands.  The doctor flopped back on the mattress, his feet still planted on the floor as Belle turned to Eli.

“Thank you, so much…truly, Eli.  I do appreciate it,” she said, raising up on the balls of her feet to kiss his cheek.  “You’re a good friend.”

Eli dismissed her comment with a wave of his hand before burying them both in the pockets of his jacket.  “Hey, anytime.  I…yeah…think I’m just gonna go,” he said, backing awkwardly to the door.  “Really tired.”

“TJ said the serum would make you sleepy.  At least it didn’t put us all into a coma as it did to Scott on the recording.  If you can’t make it back to your quarters, there are any number of rooms you can choose on this side of the ship,” Belle offered.  “I wouldn’t want you passing out in the hallway on your way back to your own.”

“No, I’m good.  See you tomorrow.”

Belle’s shoulders drooped as the door whooshed shut, raking a hand over her braid and brushing its loose strands away from her face.  She gazed down at Rush as a little snore slipped past his lips.  “And I guess you’re not going to be any help, are you, darling?” she muttered with a roll of her eyes as she knelt at his feet and pulled his boots and socks from his feet.  He barely stirred as she made quick work of the rest of his clothes, leaving him clad only in his boxers before tucking him beneath the cool sheets.

She stripped out of her fatigues and reached for the first thing available lying in a neat pile of freshly laundered clothes.  She pulled Rush’s white button down on and methodically fastened it before she slipped into the bed.  She hadn’t sleep apart from him since they’d come aboard Destiny and she wasn’t about to start now.  Her head barely had time to settle on the pillow before he was gravitating towards her.

Belle opened her arms to him, his head pillowed on her shoulder as he pulled her tightly against him to be cocooned in the other’s embrace.  He mumbled incoherently as she carded her fingers in his hair, scratching her nails lightly against his scalp.  If he didn’t have a headache bordering on the worst hangover he’d ever had, she’d be surprised.  She could feel a pleasant lassitude settle in her limbs, but the serum hadn’t affected her mind.

She stared up at the ceiling, her wide cerulean eyes burning with unshed tears.  She didn’t want Rush to wake and find her weeping.  It would open herself up for too many questions for which she didn’t have answers.

I will always protect you, my darling Belle.  If it is within my power, no harm will ever come to you…

A tear slid from the corner of her eye and she hastily brushed it away.  She thought she’d cried all the tears she possibly could before dragging herself off the floor in Eli’s quarters.  How could Gold have done this to her?  Dead is dead… how many times had she heard him say that to those who’d begged for his help?  She’d seen it herself on the recording…she was dead.  There had been a gaping hole of torn and mangled flesh between her shoulder blades.  HOW?!!

She forced herself to calm as she felt Rush shift restlessly.  Even after several deep breaths, her heart was still racing.  Stop being such a goose and think!  she scolded herself.  She closed her eyes and concentrated, focusing on remembering things she’d read in her sorcerer’s vast library, large magical tomes he’d forbidden her to read.  She’d happily disobeyed him then in an effort to understand him better.  If he were going to remain content to shut himself off from her, she had needed to find a way to know him somehow and what better way than through books he’d studied, some even he’d written himself.

Rumpelstiltskin had been the most powerful sorcerer in the known realms.  It should have come as no surprise that when he said he would protect her always, and he’d been steadfast in his vow.  Spells, potions, charms, recipes for cordials all danced through her never ending memories.  Bits and pieces, certainly, faded with time, but there nonetheless.  Her frantic heartbeat slowed as the fragments of her dilemma seemed to finally fit together like pieces of a jigsaw.

She fingered the tea cup pendant about her throat and couldn’t help but wonder what price he’d had to pay for the magic he’d imbued upon it.  Without a doubt, his healing magic had gone into it.  There was no other explanation for the way her skin had knit back together so seamlessly.  Thinking back over the time she’d been apart from him, she remembered another time shortly after she’d begun working for Rush.  In her clumsiness, she’d tripped on the stairs leading out of the auditorium style classroom and fallen due to her innate clumsiness.  A broken wrist and a sprained ankle had been minor in comparison to the broken neck she could have suffered.

A frown settled between her brows as she continued to draw her fingers through the silky strands of Rush’s hair as he slept.  She’d paid little heed to her ankle, having too much work to do to worry about a minor injury.  And her wrist had been plastered, so at the time she’d put it out of her mind as well.  The doctor had proclaimed her healed in a matter of six weeks and she had full mobility as if the accident had never occurred.  Now she had to wonder if maybe she’d healed faster than any of them had previously thought.  What of the injury she’d sustained in their mad dash to board Destiny?  Surely…

She lifted her hand to her temple and pressed her fingers to her cool skin.  Had it too healed sooner than it should have?  Had the protective charm in her pendant saved her from a serious concussion or memory loss or a myriad of other things inherent with a head injury?  It still didn’t explain what she’d seen.  Even his magic wouldn’t have been able to heal a corpse.  It was impossible…unless…

Could the pendant also hold some form of magic that would preserve her an inch from death until the healing properties had a chance to piece her back together?  What if she’d lost a limb?  There had to be a limit as to what his power could accomplish and she wasn’t quite crazy enough to damage herself to force the experiment.  She could go quite mad trying to piece together the complexities of what he’d done to her pendant.  She groaned.  There was one person she could ask, but just as quickly as the thought entered her head, she pushed it away.  She’d happily set herself on fire before she ever asked Regina for help.

Her former true love had vowed to protect her and even in death he’d kept his promise.  He’d even gone so far as to charm the necklace to prevent it from being removed.  In the ten years since she’d received it, she hadn’t even tried…until tonight.  She doubted even a pair of bolt cutters would do the job.  She would just have to learn to deal with the ramifications of such a powerful magical object and learn to live with it…and pray no one ever learned her secret.  Otherwise she’d be strapped to a steel slab and forced to be someone’s guinea pig.  She was certain Rumpelstiltskin would not be happy.

And what of Rush?  On the recording, he’d professed to love her…and that wasn’t a conversation she was looking forward to having.  Would he still love her despite her differences?  It’s not like it was her fault.  Would he shun her?  No, it was best if she didn’t tell him.  She’d already had to explain her past without dragging magic, fairies, evil witches and the like into the equation.  He’d think her certifiably insane.  

This would be just another closely guarded secret to add to the many she already held buried deep inside her.  She couldn’t lose him too.  After Storybrooke, he was the only person she’d ever let get close to her, the only person she’d allowed herself to trust.  

Now he was all she had and she wouldn’t give him up without a fight.

It had been so long since she’d been happy and he was a great part of that happiness.  No, she’d bury her secret in the vault with the rest and carry on as she always had.  This would change nothing.  Oh, who am I kidding?

X*X*X*X*X

The merciless pounding in his head, most of it centered behind his closed lids, made Rush groan and clasp his pillow more closely to his face.  At least until his pillow grumbled softly in her sleep.  It was then that the rest of his senses kicked in as he pried his eyes open.  His Belle, he thought, smiling against her skin as he dropped a soft kiss between her breasts revealed by the open collar of her…his…shirt.

Her arms were wrapped around his shoulders, holding him close even in her sleep and it was easy for her hands to find his nape to knead at the tense knots hiding beneath his flesh.  He groaned again, unable to enjoy the full experience of her talented fingers due to his headache.  “What time is it?” he asked, the raspy croak of his voice sounding foreign to his ears.

Belle lifted her left arm and squinted at the lighted dial of her watch.  “A little after six,” she whispered.  “We don’t have to be on shift for another hour and a half.  How are you feeling?”

“My head feels like someone has tried to cleave it in two,” he said as he pressed his brow to her collarbone.

“I still have half a bottle of Advil.  Let me up and I’ll get some for you,” she offered, carding her fingers through his hair as her fingers continued to knead all the right pressure points to bring him relief.  He wanted nothing more than to lie there and let her soothe him, but the pounding was nigh unbearable.

He rolled onto his back, releasing her from his embrace and pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes, cursing softly.  “What the hell did Lt Johansen put in that serum?”

Belle sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed, searching blindly through the drawer on the nightstand for her bottle of pain relievers.  She shook three out into her palm and held them out to him, along with a cup of water.  He took them without complaint and dropped back onto the bed, holding his arms open for her to return to them.

“How’d I get here, by the way?” he asked when she’d settled back into his embrace, her head pillowed on his shoulder.  “The last thing I remember was you charging into the infirmary and stabbing me in the neck with the inoculation gun.”

“Um…well…” she hedged, burying her face against his bare chest so he wouldn’t see the smile lingering about her lips.

He groaned.  “Please tell me I didn’t embarrass myself again like I did when I had my breakdown.”

“No, no,” she assured him amidst a barrage of giggles.  “It’s really not that bad.  You…ah…you just pretty much wrapped your arms around my legs and went to sleep against my stomach.”

“What?” he asked, a pained expression curling his thin lips and creasing his brow.

“Spencer was the only one to comment, but Greer put an end to that rather quickly,” she teased.  “You didn’t say anything really embarrassing until we got out into the corridor.  So, if Eli is a little more uncomfortable around you this morning than usual, don’t pay any attention to it.”

He groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose.  “Wonderful.  How bad was it?”

Belle bit her lip and grinned up at him.  “It wasn’t…I promise,” she assured him.  

“You were a bit incoherent…and drugged, so you can’t be held responsible for what you said.”  He pursed his lips in displeasure and she giggled, leaning forward to press a kiss to the corner of his mouth.

His brows mashed together over his troubled eyes as the blue FTL lights streaming through the porthole illuminated her face with its dim glow.  He reached out, running one long finger over her cheek, tracing the thin salt trail left by tears, scratching gently with his nail.  “You’ve been crying.  Why’ve you been crying, Belle?”

“It’s nothing, Nicholas, really,” she said, pushing his hand away.  “It was just stress and hormones and…that’s all.”

Rush brushed a curl behind her ear and tilted her chin up so he could see her more clearly without her face so cast in shadow.  Her excuses were clearly a dodge, the telltale signs more than evident in the way she bit her lip and averted her gaze.  He’d seen it too many times in the past when he got a bit too close or brought up a subject of which she had no desire to discuss.  “Tell me what’s wrong, love,” he said softly, closing the distance between them to press a kiss to her lips.

“I promise, Nicholas.  It’s nothing to cause concern,” she said, unable to hide the slight tremor in her voice.

“I know when something’s troubling you, Belle.  I know you,” he insisted.  His heart fell somewhere in the region of his knees.  “Does your distress have anything to do with what you saw on the Kino footage yesterday?  Belle, I—

She pressed her fingers to his lips.  “It’s ok, Nicholas.  People say things like that in the heat of the moment.  You…well, the Rush on the recording…he was afraid and thought we were going to die and—“

“What if it was true?” he asked, cutting her off.

Belle looked down into his dark sable gaze and sucked in a sharp breath.  She’d never seen him look quite so vulnerable, not even after he’d lost his wife, and she could feel the panic beginning to well up in her chest.  She didn’t want him to love her.  Their situation on Destiny was so precarious, she knew if he loved her it would just be more difficult to lose him should some catastrophe befall them.

“Nicholas,” she began, searching desperately for something to say to him.  “It’s enough that we care for each other, isn’t it?  That we enjoying working together and just being with each other?”  She lifted his left hand and kissed his knuckles above the ring resting on his fourth finger.  “You’re still wearing your ring.  And don’t you for one moment think I would ask you to give that up,” she said, quick to reassure him.  “But do you really think we’re ready to love each other?”

Rush sighed wearily, realizing she was running again.  She was forever running, hiding, trying to escape her heart.  At least this time, they were trapped on Destiny and she couldn’t let her fears drive her to pick a different part of the country…or the world for that matter…to hide in.  “Belle, I do lo—“

She didn’t give him a chance to finish, leaning down and slanting her lips over his in a lingering kiss meant to distract him.  He opened his mouth to protest, but the words never made it past his lips as her tongue delved past his teeth to explore.  She caught his moan on a whisper of breath and she melted into him, reveling in his taste as her tongue skimmed over his teeth and the roof of his mouth, seeking out every part that would bring him pleasure.

“Can’t we just enjoy each other, Nicholas?  See where it goes from there?” she pleaded as she nipped lightly at his lower lip.  “I care for you so much…can’t that be enough for now?”  She couldn’t let herself believe in the fairytale again.  She’d promised Rumpelstiltskin forever and he’d left her, sacrificed himself to save her and Bae.  She knew when it came to love, it was fleeting.  If she lived for the moment and didn’t put her hope into a future that may or may not happen, she could protect herself from the damning despair that would dig a gaping hole in her chest should she lose him.

His arms came about her waist as she straddled his hips and he groaned as she ground down on his burgeoning erection.  He watched her closely, feeling the wall around her heart as if it were a tangible thing, preventing him from reaching her.  He’d loved her for so long, it was almost a physical pain to have her reject his feelings out of hand.  He would have to continue to chip away at the barrier she’d erected to protect herself, continue to show her how sincere he was and hope that eventually she’d let him in completely.

Rush nodded slowly, acquiescing to her pleas without need for words and she sighed happily, the lines of stress easing around her eyes and mouth as she kissed him again.  Her hands splayed across his bare chest, her nails scratching lightly against his flat nipples and he couldn’t help bucking against her.  He could feel her smile against his skin as her lips trailed over his collarbone, lavishing it with her attention.  It wasn’t the first time over the last several days they’d woken to explore each other, but she’d never been quite so fervent in her desire.

“Belle…what,” he gasped as her hands slid up his chest and into his hair, tilting his head to the right as she buried her face in the crook of his neck, breathing him in.  His cock twitched against her and he had to bite down on his lip to stop himself from crying out as her tongue swirled beneath his ear.  “W-We still have…have one more…day,” he panted as she ground her hips down with more force.

“Shh, Nicholas.  Just let me touch you,” she whispered against the shell of his ear as her hands tightened in his hair.  She moaned as his hands slipped beneath her shirt to knead gently at her lower back and over the rounded curve of her ass, the sound vibrating pleasantly against his flesh as she bit the tendon where his neck met his shoulder.  Her tongue laved the bite as she sucked his skin into her mouth with more force than necessary, determined to mark him.  She didn’t give a damn who might see the mark.  He was hers to claim, hers to mark, and she was proud to have him as her lover.  Let Young take his fraternization rules and stick them up his ass!

A growl of primal need rumbled deep in his chest as he arched beneath her, his hands restless as they sought out every inch of skin already bared to him.  She sat up to look down at him, a satisfied smirk playing on her lips.  He was thin and wiry and…beautiful.  His eyes were dark with need, his pupils blown wide with his desire; his hair tousled on the pillow and his lips parted, his breath rushing past them under the weight of his passion.  She ran the flat of her palm down his chest and over the smooth plane of his stomach, reveling in the fact that she had every right to do so.

His hands clasped her hips tightly as he arched into her touch.  “Belle, we…what…” he rasped out, clenching his teeth as she pressed her soft lips to his protruding hip bone and trailed kisses to his navel.  “Belle, I can wait…we can wait--fuckkkk…”  She reached between them and cupped him through his boxers and he nearly unseated her, his hips bucking and his head thrashing back and forth on the pillow.  “Nevermind,” he panted.  “Whatever you want, mo ghrá.”

“My Nicholas,” she murmured as she left tiny bites along the skin at the waistband of his boxers.  “Are you mine, darling?” she purred silkily.  “Do you want to be mine?”  She looped her thumbs in the elastic and pushed it down over his hips to rest somewhere around his knees.  Gods, how long has it been since he’s had anyone touch him like this?  she thought bitterly.  Everyone he knew treated him with no regard for his feelings, so it was no wonder that he shied away from physical contact.  She vowed then to not let a day go by without showing him, in even the smallest way, how much she cherished her time with him.

A soft whimper escaped him as she raked her nails along the sensitive flesh of his inner thighs.  “Yours, Belle…yours…” he groaned.  Her lips followed the path of her hands as she rained soft open mouthed kisses over the prize she’d revealed.  She bit her lip as she wrapped her hand around his throbbing shaft and looked up briefly to meet his gaze.

The imperturbable Dr. Nicholas Rush looked totally wrecked and she grinned wickedly at the thought that she was responsible.  She rubbed her thumb over the glistening moisture at the head as she ran the flat of her tongue along his length.  His hands fisted in the sheets beneath him as he threw back his head with a keening moan.  

When she took him fully into her mouth, he stopped breathing and she was forced to stop and make sure he was alright, rubbing her hand over his belly until he sucked in a sharp breath.

She continued to soothe him as she pressed a soft kiss to the head of his cock and drew him back firmly between her lips, her tongue sliding sinuously over the satiny softness encasing the steel core.  She took his right hand and guided it to her hair, which he resisted.  “D-Don’t want to h-hurt you,” he lamented.

Belle let go of him with a soft pop and met his eyes, her grip firm on his hand.  “You won’t, Nicholas.  I want you to touch me,” she crooned softly, her voice a caress to his over-sensitized nerves.  It was her turn to moan as his long fingers wound through the soft strands of her hair, his blunt nails scratching lightly against her scalp.

She took him into her mouth again as she wrapped her small hand around his base, bobbing slowly as she stroked him, trying to prolong his pleasure for as long as possible.  He jerked violently, a shiver running through his entire body as she took more of his length, the head bumping gently against the back of her throat.  She glanced up at him as with every upward stroke she swirled her tongue over his tip, the tendons in his neck standing out in sharp relief as he tried to hold onto his fragile control.  She quickened her pace and she could feel his hold on her hair tightening reflexively as he fought against his desire to thrust.

“Belle, please, love…I can’t…I’m going to…” he gasped, his other hand slipping into her unbound hair to pull her away.

She cupped his balls in her other hand and caressed him with a light touch, pressing them up to the base of his cock, releasing him for just a moment.  “Let go, Nicholas.  Come for me, darling,” she said, taking him as deeply into her mouth as he could go.  She sucked hard at him, humming her own pleasure, the vibration radiating to his every pore and he howled as he thrust upward into the heat and softness of her mouth.  He came with a cry of her name, spilling his seed between her lips in thick spurts, his entire body quivering with pleasure as she continued to lave him with her tongue until he lay boneless beneath her.

Belle pressed several soft kisses to his belly before resting her chin on her hand and smiling up at him.  She rather enjoyed seeing him in such a mindless state of satiation.   He looked more relaxed than she’d ever seen him and it pleased her greatly.  With the daily stresses they faced, he needed to find something to make him feel good and she was more than willing to fill that role.  She squeaked in surprise as he wrapped his hands about her upper arms and hauled her up the length of his body to lie across his chest.  Before she could relax into him, he rolled her beneath him and claimed her mouth in a searing kiss, his tongue slipping in to duel with hers.  He groaned at the taste of himself on her tongue.

“You are too wonderful for words, mo chroí.”   His head dropped wearily to her shoulder and he pressed his face to her neck as his arms tightened about her.  “Is breá liom tú an méid sin, mo Belle,”  he breathed reverently as he held her, telling her exactly what was in his heart without having her scold him for the words.

She wrapped her arms about his shoulders and dropped a soft kiss to his temple.  “One of these days I’m going to make you tell me what your beautiful words mean, Nicholas,” she said, humming softly with contentment as she reveled in his embrace.

He breathed her in and nipped softly at her ear.  “Perhaps.”

X*X*X*X*X

Rush groaned as he sat up in the bed and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.  What the hell? he thought, blinking at the darkened room.  Belle wasn’t at his side, causing him to frown.  Even the sneakers she’d worn yesterday were missing.  He remembered her dragging him out of the control interface room around midnight, complaining that he’d work himself into an early grave if he didn’t get more sleep, but she’d come with him.  He distinctly remembered her warmth spooned up against his back last night, but he’d grown accustomed to waking beside her as well.

He swung his legs over the side of the bed and raked a hand through his shaggy brown hair, reaching the other out to his radio on the nightstand.  “Belle,” he croaked into the device, his voice raspy with the last dregs of sleep.  “What is your location?”

“A deck,” she replied, her breathing labored.

Rush glowered at the radio.  “What, may I ask, are you doing?”  He glanced down at his watch to see it was only seven thirty.

“Running.  The colonel wants everyone in shape so Chloe and I convinced Eli he’d be better off exercising with the two of us rather than the marines,” she said with a breathy laugh.

He could hear the boy wheezing loudly and could imagine Eli wasn’t at all happy with the new turn of events.  He wasn’t very happy either.  “Why didn’t you wake me?”

“Because you needed to sleep, and it’s not like you would’ve joined us for a run,” she said in a dry tone as if that should have been obvious.

He snorted.  “Indeed not.  What is your schedule this morning?”

“I’m helping Eli with the data from Telford’s experiment.  HWC is badgering Young and we need to run the numbers a few more times before his meeting with O’Neil,” she explained.  “I should be able to join you in the control room before lunch, though.”

He sighed, not looking forward to a morning spent working without her at his side.  “Alright.”

“And Nicholas…Dale is going to be on shift with you this morning.  Try to be nice,” she cajoled.

He could hear the smile in her voice and felt the corners of his own mouth lift as well.  “No promises.  Rush out.”

X*X*X*X*X

Belle grinned at Eli as he collapsed against the railing, on the balcony in the gate room, breathing heavily.  Chloe leaned in next to him and rubbed soothing circles on his back.  “Wow! Eli, have you never gone running before?” the senator’s daughter asked with a chuckle.

“Um…NO!” he wheezed.  “I’m more of a sit-in-front-of-the-computer type of guy.”

“Which is where you should be now,” Colonel Young snarked as he stepped out onto the balcony to survey the marines and civilians alike participating in the calisthenics below.  “I want that data as soon as possible.”

Belle bit back an angry retort and ignored the man, choosing to focus on the activities below and Spencer’s sneering voice as he belittled the civilians who struggled to keep up with his sharp commands.  “Why is that man in charge of this?” she asked angrily, whirling to face Young as she watched Franklin empty the contents of his stomach on the gate room floor.  “He’s a brute on an ego trip.  Not to mention his tendencies for violence.”

Young rocked back on his heels, frowning down at Rush’s petite assistant.  “Scott was going to handle this, but he’s using the stones to visit his family.”

“Well,” she snarked, her brows rising in disapproval.  “Might I point out that this is an epic fail?  You cannot expect the civilians to immediately conform to the same standards of discipline as the military personnel.  They weren’t trained for your rigorous program, nor did they go through boot camp.  And it should be their choice whether or not they want to participate.”

“Hey!” Eli protested.  “You guys didn’t give me a choice when you dragged me out of bed this morning.”

“Shut up, Eli!” Both Chloe and Belle snapped in unison.

Everett’s brows rose as he huffed a short laugh.  “And I suppose you could do better, Miss French?  Or you, Miss Armstrong?” he asked dubiously as a plan began to form in his mind.

“I’m sure we could do better than Spencer,” Belle retorted, never having liked the sergeant.  “He’s cruel and no one should be subjected to his beastliness.”

“Belle,” Chloe murmured in an aside, worried over what her friend was getting her into.  “Should you—“

“Very well, Miss French,” Young said with a calculating smile.  “Three days a week, you are to incorporate an exercise program for civilian and military personnel.”

“Now wait just a minute.  I’d have to talk to Rush about—“

“You seem to forget, Miss French.  This is my command.  You may work for Dr. Rush, but you need to remember that ultimately you answer to me,” he said, asserting his authority.  He nodded at Chloe in parting, shooting over his shoulder, “Have fun, ladies.”

“Crap,” Chloe groaned.

Eli laughed softly and then quickly squelched the sound as Belle glared at him.  “Sorry.”

“Contemptible bastard!” Belle hissed.  “And don’t think this lets you off the hook either, Eli.”

Chloe crossed her arms over her chest.  “So…what are we going to do?”

Belle sighed.  “Well, provided Nicholas doesn’t come to blows with Young over this, I think I have an idea of how to make this fun.  Young expects us to fail and we’re going to prove him wrong.”

X*X*X*X*X

Rush raked a hand through his hair and then pinched the bridge of his nose, wishing the pressure behind his eyes would relent and let him work in peace.  He entered more of his equations into his laptop and then consulted the data on his console, making certain he’d entered it correctly.  Where was Belle?  He glanced down at his watch and shook his head.  It was eleven thirty and she still hadn’t made it to the control room.

Brody and Volker spoke in quiet tones across the room as they hunched over a console, and Rush could only wonder what had them so enraptured.  He was more than certain, by their grins, they weren’t working.  “What, might I ask, is so fascinating?” he asked in a dry tone as he arched a questioning brow at the two.

Volker flushed a bright red, the color clashing with his ginger hair.  “Nothing,” he said quickly, entering the commands to banish his present screen.

“I’m sure it wasn’t nothing, judging by your reactions,” Rush sneered as he rose from his console and stalked across the room.  The two men backed away sheepishly as he approached and entered the commands on the keyboard to bring up the previous screen.  His brows scrunched together as he realized it was Kino footage of the gate room.  

“Why would you waste time—“

He inhaled sharply as the Kino zoomed in on Belle, clad only in her yoga pants, sports bra and sneakers, leading a group in a rather vigorous aerobics routine.  What the fucking hell?  She blew off working for this?  He wasn’t even aware of the growl that erupted from his chest as he switched off the console and headed for the door.  He encountered no one in the corridors, thankfully, and those he did took one look at his glowering countenance and gave him a wide berth.

Rush emerged on the balcony to find Young and Greer overlooking the proceedings, and he was tempted to cover his ears as the ship’s hidden speakers blasted Livin’ La Vida Loca.  Sometimes he had to wonder over her taste in music…if it could even be called that.

“Rush!” Young called, grabbing the man’s arm as started towards the stairs.  “Don’t do it, Rush.”

The doctor shook him off, his lips curled over his lip in a snarl.  “She’s making a spectacle of herself!” he hissed, not really caring whether or not his voice could be heard over the music.  “And who the hell is commandeering the Kino that’s recording

this?!”  He wanted to know who to kill.

“Come on, Doc, look at her,” Greer said, nodding to Belle.  “She’s got the entire crew participating.  They’re laughing and enjoying themselves.  Before she stepped up and took over, they were plotting a mutiny.”

“Beside the point!” Rush snapped.  He knew better than anyone what a boost his little assistant could be for morale.  She’d always been able to coax him out of a temper with a mere smile.  By turning the exercise program into something fun, it could only save the colonel and his officers from a myriad of troubles.  However, he would not let Young turn her into his own personal cruise director.

Young groaned as he watched Rush stalk angrily down the stairs.  “This doesn’t bode well,” he said to Greer who only chuckled and shook his head.

“Alright, pick it up,” Belle called, her hips twitching in time with the beat as she focused her attention on the steps of her hastily made routine.  She was more than pleased to see the crew enjoying themselves.  Even Spencer, with his perpetual surliness, had been seen smiling as he followed her steps.  She hadn’t felt this good in ages, having missed her daily runs around Icarus and before that on the campus at Berkeley.

The song changed and she easily flowed into the next phase of her routine, but the crew was slowly coming to a standstill, their focus coming to rest on something over her left shoulder.  The hairs on her nape stood up at attention and her skin prickled with awareness.  Without even turning, she knew it wasn’t invading aliens.  That could only mean…

Belle turned to Chloe, who was manning the Kino remote…they’d decided to allow Eli to document their first session for his documentary…and called her over.  “Bring them through a cool down and then dismiss them,” she ordered, smiling at the girl, the faint quirk of her lips betraying her nervousness.

Chloe simply nodded and picked up where Belle had left off as the shorter woman turned to face Rush.  He was holding out her cardigan, ready for her to slip her arms into the sleeves.  He said not a word as the soft gray material settled over her shoulders.  Belle squeaked as he reached for her hand, his grip vise-like, and literally dragged her from the gate room.

“I can explain, y’know,” she said softly as the music faded the farther they moved along the corridor.  He simply held up a finger for silence, his jaw clenched and the muscle ticking away dangerously in his cheek.  “Can I at least ask where we’re going?  I need to take a shower before I meet up with Eli to work on the data Telford’s scientist’s col—“

He pulled on her hand, bringing her to an abrupt halt at his side.  “You were supposed to be working with me, Belle.  I do believe that’s why you are drawing a paycheck, is it not?” he hissed furiously and Belle gasped at the heat radiating from his dark eyes.  “I’ve got half a notepad filled with calculations that need to be entered and logged into the database…work you’re supposed to be doing so I can focus on trying to unlock the master systems of this ship.”

“Nicholas—“

“And where do I find you?  In the gate room indulging in frivolity when your talents are needed elsewhere.  In the meantime I’ve got Young breathing down my neck with his idiocy about dialing the gate and those two idiots I’m forced to work with ogling my girlfriend on a Kino recording!”

Belle gasped at the comfortable use of the word girlfriend.  He was jealous.  Jealous of the time she had devoted to others and jealous of her friends watching her on the recording.  Her heart fluttered, warmth spreading through her chest as she tugged her hand free and wrapped her arms about his waist.

“I’m sorry,” she said, twining her fingers with his as she kissed his cheek and urged him on towards the control room.  “I really didn’t mean to get sidetracked this morning and neglect my work.  Young was being a complete ass, however; yes, I know, not surprising.  Of course, Chloe and I had to set out to prove him wrong, and with the success of our little endeavor…we succeeded.”

He pinned her with a pointed stare as they entered the control room.  “I just thought this mission was more important to you.”

“You know it is!”

Rush glanced up to find Brody and Volker hunched over the console, trying to pretend they weren’t hanging on their every word.  “Out!  Now!” he growled as Belle huffed an exasperated sigh and waited for the room to clear.

“You know how much I care about this mission, Nicholas.  But according to that jerk in command, I don’t have a choice in the matter.  Actually, I’m quite stunned that he hasn’t tried to separate us permanently since our relationship is common knowledge amongst the crew.”

She could have smacked herself the moment the words left her mouth as his brows drew together in a worried frown and his dark sable eyes filled with insecurity.  He turned to his console, his hair falling over his eyes as he looked down at the data on the screen, trying to hide what she’d already seen.  “Are you regretting your decision to be with me?” he asked, trying to keep his tone nonchalant.  “Would you have rathered the crew didn’t find out about our relationship?”

“Oh, Nicholas, no,” she insisted, her features softening dramatically as she stepped to his side and cupped his cheek in her hand.  “You know I want to be with you.”  She brushed her lips to his and sighed happily as his arms slipped around her waist to pull her close.  “More than anything.  I should have talked to you this morning about what was happening.  I’m sorry.”

“There’s no need to keep apologizing, Belle, but I need you here.  I suppose I’ll have to speak to the colonel about your duties and make him understand your role on Destiny,” he said, his jaw clenching with suppressed anger at the thought of the man trying to focus Belle’s energies elsewhere.

“Just let me grab a quick shower and I’ll get right to work, ok?  I can perhaps get with Eli this evening after my shift or—“

“No, do what needs to be done, because,” he murmured huskily against the shell of her ear.  “When your shift is done, you belong solely to me.”

Belle shivered and curled into his embrace as he kissed her gently and nipped at her lower lip.  “Completely,” she agreed.

X*X*X*X*X

Belle sat back and scrubbed her hands over her face as the console flashed another red FAIL.  It was the fifth failed scenario in three hours and she was getting antsy, the need to move overwhelming.  “The data is sound, Eli,” she said gently, reaching out to rub the boy’s tense shoulder.  “However, Destiny is just not capable of dialing the gate.  There just isn’t enough power.”

“But if we can channel the star’s energy directly into the gate, it should work,” he interjected with a desperate pleading look in his eyes.

She shook her head.  “As it is now, when we enter a star and the ship refuels, per se, we’re not charging to one hundred percent…you know this, Eli.  As desperate as the IOA, HWC and Telford himself are to get us home so they can send their own team, it’s not going to work until we can operate on full capacity and with a full working knowledge of all of Destiny’s systems.”

“And without the core systems on line we’re pretty well screwed,” he huffed indignantly, tossing his pencil at the console.

She sighed, her lips curling slightly.  “Look, take a break.  We’ll try again tomorrow.  I know it can’t be easy with the colonel breathing down your neck.  I’ll back this up on your laptop, ok?”

Eli sat back in his chair and let out an enormous yawn. Partway through it, Rush's voice sounded over the radio. “Eli.”

The boy lifted the radio, still yawning, his voice muffled with fatigue.  “Yo.”

“We've managed to secure two more sections of the ship. I'm sending a team in to take a look. I need you to operate the Kino for me,” the lead scientist said.  Belle could hear the tiredness in his voice and she groaned.  She doubted without her there working with him that he’d bothered to take a break for lunch.

“Kinda busy here.”

“Doing what?” Rush asked, affronted by his protégé’s unwillingness to help.

“Belle and I are working on something for the colonel,” he answered somewhat reluctantly.

“Eli, do me a favor,” Rush snarked impatiently.  “Have a look at your chest.  Is there any insignia there…anything that says lieutenant or sergeant or anything like that?”

Belle muffled a giggle as she finished up with her task of transferring all the data to Eli’s flash.  She returned to the home screen and frowned, one of the icons flashing insistently.  Shrugging, she clicked on the icon and pulled up the program that was running in the background, a cold shiver quickly racing up her spine.

Eli, rolled his eyes, not paying attention to what Belle was doing.  “No, all I’ve got is ‘You are here’,” he replied, looking down briefly at his red tee.

“Exactly,” Rush hissed.  “You know what, don’t bother.  I’ll manage.”

“UGH!!! What is his problem!?” he growled in frustration, tossing the radio onto the bed behind him.  He froze as Belle skimmed through the numerous recordings of downloaded Kino footage on his hard drive, wincing as she turned her angry cerulean gaze on him.  “Belle…um…I can explain…I—“

“There’s really no need, is there, dearie?” she asked in a deceptively calm tone as she rose to her feet to stare down at who she thought was her friend.  Anyone who didn’t know her well would say she was the epitome of calm dignity…those who did would know she was flaming mad and an inch away from unleashing her wrath upon the masses in a fiery display of temper.   “You’re spying on Nicholas.  Did Young order you to do this?  Because I simply will not believe you’d want this for your documentary.”

“Belle,” he groaned.  “He doesn’t trust Dr. Rush and he feels that—“

“And now I can’t trust you!”  Belle pointed her finger in the center of his chest as he stood up, not appreciating the height advantage he had on her, but she refused to back down without having her say.  “To think that I asked Nicholas to go easy on you, to work with you rather than against you.”  She picked up her radio from the console and clipped it to her belt before turning on her heel with a bitter laugh.  “Y’know, Eli, I always try to give people a chance, thinking if I don’t perhaps I’ll never get to know who they really are.  And always I’m disappointed.”

She left without a word and she was still in a right fit state of temper when she barged into the control room to take her place at Rush’s side at his console.  “Belle, love, what’s wrong?” he asked, regarding her through narrowed eyes.  She was practically vibrating with tension.

“It’s nothing,” she said, brushing off his concern, but he’d have none of it as he took both of her hands in his and made her look at him.  “I can’t tell you now.  It’s a discussion better left for later when we’re assured of our privacy.” She glanced down at the console to see the Kino feed of Greer and his team searching out the newly unexplored section of the ship.  “What are we doing?”

He gestured to the console where the Kino he was manning from the control room followed after Greer and two of his men as they searched through the unfamiliar corridors.  “So far all they’ve found is more quarters, but they’ve barely begun.”

Belle smiled at TJ as she entered the room and dropped down on one of the benches that lined the wall.  “Hey, what’s wrong, Tamara?” she asked, leaving Rush to his work as she went to sit beside her friend.  She lowered her voice so only the blonde could hear.  “Have you been arguing with Everett again?”

TJ dropped her head into her hands and let them slide down over her face until they came to rest over her mouth.  She shook her head slightly and turned to look at Belle.  “No, nothing like that.  We don’t argue…we don’t even talk anymore.  I just…” she let her voice trail away, not wishing to discuss her relationship with the colonel.  “I just don’t know anymore.  I guess I’m just tired.”

Belle reached over and squeezed her shoulder.  “We missed you this morning.  I’m sure you heard about Young’s newest dictate for the crew to get in shape.”

TJ chuckled.  “Yeah, I heard you and Chloe were quite the success with your new program.  I wish I could say the same for my project.”

“Oh?  What project?  Anything I might be able to help with?” she asked, more than willing to lift her friend’s spirits.

“Belle…” Rush growled, clearly eavesdropping on their conversation.  

She ignored him.  TJ glanced between the two, torn as to whether or not she wanted to say anything, but relented when Belle nodded persistently.  “The colonel wants me to do psych evals on the crew and so far it’s not really going well,” she said dejectedly.  “I’ve got eight done so far, but no one seems to be comfortable talking to me.”

“I’m surprised he didn’t ask Camille.  She has a doctorate doesn’t she?”

“He wants me to do it, though I don’t know how successful I’ll be in completing this task if I can’t get more people to sit down and talk to me.”  She cast large hopeful eyes over at Belle.  “You wouldn’t be willing to spare me a little time for yours would you?”

Belle failed at hiding her chagrin, biting her lower lip in nervous agitation.  Considering her previous history with psychiatrists, she had no desire whatsoever to sit down and talk about her feelings.  Yet, how could she deny her friend’s request when she was in need of help.  “I…I guess, but I can only spare about thirty minutes or so.  I’m behind on my work and…”

Rush gave her a tender smile over his shoulder.  “Thirty minutes is adequate, Belle.  It’s fine as long as you keep your radio on so I can reach you if I need you.”

It was only a short walk to TJ’s office off the infirmary, but she felt as though she were being led to the gallows.  Belle dropped down onto the sofa and she had to smile at the delicious pull of her muscles from a morning well spent in physical exertion.  She’d missed it more than she’d thought.  To be respectful of TJ and the role she was having to fill as the ship’s psychiatrist, she turned her radio down low enough so it wouldn’t interrupt, but loud enough to hear should Rush call for her.

TJ set a notepad on her lap and leaned back in her chair, smiling reassuringly as she hoped talking with Belle would be easier than her previous evaluations with some of the crew.  “Just relax, Belle.”

Belle tucked her feet beneath her and tried to get comfortable, smiling a little awkwardly.  “Yeah, trying.  I don’t really feel comfortable talking about myself sometimes…anytime, really,” she admitted ruefully as her fingers toyed with a loose thread on the hem of her blue tunic style top.

Her friend returned her smile.  “Oh, and why is that?”

Belle’s eyes crinkled at the corners, narrowing ever so slightly as she regarded the medic.  And so it begins, she thought with a sigh.  “Let’s just say there are things in my past that make it difficult for me to trust and leave it at that.  Next question.”

“Ok,” TJ said, her pencil scratching furiously against her notepad.  When she was done, she folded her hands in her lap and tried to appear relaxed.  “So, how are you coping with life on the ship?”

“Seriously?” Belle asked with a dubious arch of her brow, as if it wasn’t apparent to one and all how much she adored her life on the ship.  “I love Destiny.  All the hard work Nicholas and I put in to get us here…it’s amazing.  There’s so much about Destiny to explore, mysteries to be uncovered, new challenges,” she said reverently.

TJ looked taken aback.  “The lack of food and resources doesn’t bother you?”

“Tamara, there are always difficulties to be faced whether here or back on Earth.  It’s life.  We seem to be doing ok for now and I think the more we acclimate ourselves with the situation, the better we’ll be equipped to handle it.  I have faith in our crew…and Nicholas,” she said, a fond smile curling at her lips.

“So you and Dr. Rush…things are getting serious between you two?”

A rosy blush rose to settle in her cheeks.  “Nicholas and I are happy together, no matter what our relationship might bring, but yes, we’re growing closer.”

“And how do you feel about that?” TJ asked as she rested her chin in her palm.

“How do I feel about it,” Belle snorted.  “Terrified.  You didn’t know Nicholas after he lost his wife.  He was…difficult, you could say, to work with.  It was a struggle for both of us, but I—“  she looked down at her tightly clasped hands, her brow furrowing.  “I had been through a similar situation myself before we met.  I could understand the pain he was going through.  In a way, we were able to help each other.”

TJ cast her a sympathetic smile.  “Dr. Rush doesn’t seem the type to accept help easily.”

Belle chuckled wryly.  “Understatement.  He was an antisocial, workaholic, cantankerous curmudgeon!  It took him quite a while to get used to me being his assistant, but once he did…he’s a very special man,” she said, a wistful note in her voice.

“You love him,” TJ said, stating the obvious.

Belle scrambled to her feet, crossing her arms protectively over her chest.  “Um…I care about him, but…no.  No, I don’t love him,” she denied.

TJ shot her a dubious look, clearly not believing her friend.  “Ok, ok,” she said, holding her hands up in surrender.  “If you say so.”

Belle cast an uneasy look between her friend and the door, chewing nervously at her lower lip.  “Well, I’m just going to go.  Work to be done and all.”

“Belle, you know you can talk to me, right?  Not just because of this evaluation, but because I’m your friend.  You can trust me.”

Belle hugged herself tightly.  She remembered others telling her the same over the course of her life…her father, Mary Margaret and Emma, Ruby…she snorted.  Yeah, some friend she was, chaining me to a pipe in the library.  They’d all found some way to be her friend only to turn their backs on her when she needed them.  First Gold, once he’d decided to be honest with her and let her fully into his heart and then Nicholas had never disappointed her by turning their backs on her.  As much as she valued TJ’s friendship, she still couldn’t find it within herself to trust her.

“I know, TJ and…thanks.”

X*X*X*X*X

Rush rubbed tiredly at the back of his neck as he watched the Kino feed on the console and tried to co-ordinate with Greer over the radio.  He watched as the master sergeant stopped in front of another closed door.  “Go ahead, sergeant,” Rush said, raising the radio closer to his mouth.

Greer activated the door control and shined his light into the room.  “More quarters, Dr. Rush.”

“Alright,” Rush sighed wearily.  “Try the next corridor to your left.”

Greer did as instructed, Cpl Rivers and Airman Evans following in his wake, weapons drawn.  Really, what did they expect to jump out at them, Rush though caustically.  Greer slapped his hand against the door mechanism and watched it slide open with a whoosh before nodding at his team to enter.

Evans lowered his weapon, gesturing to the center of the large circular room.  “What the hell is this supposed to be?”

Rivers rolled his eyes.  “Well it would appear to be a chair, Captain Obvious,” he snarked.

Greer shone his torch on the chair, a cheerful smile lighting his face.  “Hey!  Looks like we’ve found the dentist’s office!”

In the control interface room, Rush toggled between the Kino footage and several screens of data he’d been trying to decipher.  His eyes narrowed on the screen as Greer pushed a button on the chair and the lights flashed on in the room.  On the chair, clamps sprung out into position where if someone were sitting in it, they would trap the person’s wrists and ankles to hold them securely in place.  At the same time, a device swung over the top of the headrest into a position where it would clamp firmly on the occupant’s temples.  His mouth fell open with excitement as he pressed the com button on the radio.

“Don’t touch anything!” he commanded.  “Leave it…I’m on my way.”  He clipped the radio to his belt and hurried from the room, nearly bumping into Belle as she made her way back to the control room.

“Nicholas, what is it?” she asked as he grabbed her hand and spun her back in the direction from which she’d come, turning to the right as they reached the dome room and taking a corridor that had before been off limits.  “Where are we going?”

“Your friend found something fascinating,” he said, urging her faster along the corridor and into the newly acquired room.

Belle circled around the chair, her eyes alight with curiosity.  “What’s it do?” she asked, running her hands over the clamps on the arm rests.  “Can I sit in it?”

“No.”

“But—“

“No,” Rush reiterated, moving over the one of the two consoles in the room and switching it on.  “You will not be sitting in the chair, Belle.”

She stuck her tongue out childishly and moved to his side to see what the new device would mean for them.

X*X*X*X*X

Belle eyed the Colonel with no small amount of irritation as she continued to decipher the Ancient text into Rush’s laptop as Nicholas tried to explain to the man what he’d discovered about the chair.  She just knew Young wasn’t going to be happy about it.  He was rarely happy about anything.

“Neural interface?”

Rush leaned an elbow against the console and stroked his long fingers over his stubbled chin.  “A precursor to an Ancient device SG-1 discovered several years ago.  A repository of knowledge that can be literally downloaded into one’s mind,” he said thoughtfully, his mind minimally focused on his conversation with Young as the possibilities of the chair weighed heavily upon him.

Young’s brows drew together as he studied the chair.  “And you think this is one of those things?”

“Within that knowledge may be the master code to unlock the ship’s core systems: navigation, propulsion…” he explained.

“You’re sure?”

Belle nodded.  “Well we can’t be certain until Rush lets me sit in the chair, but—“

“Belle, for the last time, you are not sitting in the chair,” Rush growled, his dark sable eyes glowing hotly as he turned to give her a reproachful look.

“But, Nicholas, if—“

“No!”

“Enough, you two,” the colonel snarled.

Greer pointed the nozzle of his rifle at the pronged headrest.  “It looks like it holds you down and shoots bolts into your head.”

Rush brushed that off with a dismissive wave of his hand.  “These are merely electrodes allowing the transfer of data.”

“Do you know what a device like this did to General O’Neil?” Young asked, glaring at Rush.

Belle nodded and saved her work on the laptop before she closed it.  “The sheer amount of information overwhelmed him,” she answered, having heard the story when she’d first joined the Icarus project and began trying to learn as much as she could about the stargate program.

“It damn near killed him, is what it did!” Young said, glowering fiercely at her.

“Be that as it may,” Rush said, trying to focus the colonel’s attention away from his assistant.  “It led to incredible discoveries.”

Young narrowed his gaze on the two scientists.  “And it damn near killed him. In fact, the only thing we know for sure is an Ancient device like this is pretty much a death sentence. Nobody sits in this thing.”  He turned to address Greer, ordering.  “I want a guard detail posted.”

Rush glowered at him with unmistakable disdain.  “So what are we to do, Colonel?  Just ignore what this chair can do?”

Young refused to back down, however.  “I’m not telling you to ignore it.  I’m telling you to study it without sitting in it.”

“And what good is that going to do us?  We can’t even get it to activate without someone sitting—“

“I said no, Miss French, and I will not relent as long as it can’t be determined whether or not there is a danger,” he said, turning back to Rush.

Rush pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to relieve the pressure behind his eyes.  Talking to Young always gave him a headache and now was no different.  “Look, Colonel, this pre-dates those found in the Milky Way.  I’d be willing to bet the effects are far less severe.”

Young walked slowly, steadily towards him, doing his best to intimidate Rush with his height advantage.  “Would you bet your own life?  Or Miss French’s?” he asked, taking supreme satisfaction in the clenching of the doctor’s jaw.  He knew for a fact, as protective as Rush was of Belle, he’d never risk her, and coward that he was, his own life would never be put in question.

Rush looked away, his eyes focusing on Belle as he weighed his options.

“So you’re fine as long as someone else volunteers,” Young sneered derisively.

Greer smiled cheekily.  “Well, if it means getting these people home, I’ll sit in the damned thing.”

“Colonel,” Rush interrupted, “so far I've only managed to access portions of Destiny's database. We still can't actually control the ship.”

“Even if we could turn this thing around right now and head back to Earth, how long would that take?” Young scoffed. “Another million years? Rush, you want this chair to be some kind of wonderful discovery, that's fine. Prove it. You prove we can use it safely to do something we actually need it to do. Until then...” he warned, his voice stern as he made it a direct order, “...no-one goes near.”

Rush nodded dejectedly as Young left the room.

Belle rubbed gently at the back of his neck and felt him relax under her gentle touch, her presence soothing him as nothing else could.  “Don’t let him get to you, Nicholas.  We will find a way to make this work,” she said confidently.  “Now let’s get down to business.”

X*X*X*X*X

The rest of the science team, Brody, Park and Volker, joined Belle and Rush, immediately setting to work gathering and processing data, clearly excited with the new discovery.

“If someone wants to volunteer to sit in it, why won’t he let ‘em?” Brody asked, his gaze swinging to each member of the team.

Lisa looked up from the console and shrugged.  “He’s just trying to protect us.”

“He’s trying to dictate to us about things he has no knowledge…as usual,” Belle mumbled under her breath as she ran a diagnostic on the chair.  “He’s a meddling, interfering bas—“

“Belle,” Rush hissed quietly under his breath.

“Oh, please!” Brody snorted.  “If he’s trying to protect anything, it’s his command.”

Volker’s pencil scratched to a halt on his notepad as he looked up to meet Brody’s agitated gaze.  “It’s politics.  He resists at first, comes round eventually, gives it the green light and if it works, he’s the big hero, and if it doesn’t, well…”  He looked over at Rush who stood at the console quietly working.  “…you get to take the blame.”

Rush looked up with a closed off expression, bottling his dislike for the colonel behind a mask of cold indifference.  “Yes.”

X*X*X*X*X

Rush walked along the corridor, fiddling with his broken glasses.  He really needed to remember to grab his spare pair from his quarters, but with all the distractions…namely his warm and oh so desirable Belle…he kept forgetting.

TJ came out of the infirmary as he passed on his way to the chair interface room, a notepad clasped tightly to her chest.  “Hey, Dr. Rush.  You got a sec?”

Rush didn’t look up at her, neither did he slow.  “No,” he said in a clipped tone, certain he knew what she had on her mind.

“I’m doing psych evaluations for the entire crew,” she pressed, ignoring his short reply.

“No thank you,” he sighed, trying to be polite for Belle’s sake.

“Colonel Young ordered them.  It’s just a talk, see how you’re doing, give you a chance to voice any problems or frustrations,” she continued as if he hadn’t already rejected her twice.

Rush hurried his step and stepped over the threshold of the neural chair interface room before turning back to her.  “Well, I’m fine.  No problems, no complaints.  Is that it?”  He smiled at her, and not giving her a chance to answer, hit the door mechanism, sealing her out.

TJ sighed and turned on her heel, her shoulders drooping with frustration.  “Yeah, guess so.”

X*X*X*X*X

Belle huffed out a loud breath, blowing a tendril of hair out of her eyes as she continued to enter data from Rush’s notebook into the database while he explained to the colonel and a yawning Eli what he’d found in the ship’s computer.

“I’ve been able to access the sub-space link between Destiny and the unmanned ships that were sent out ahead of her.”

Young crossed his arms over his chest, listening attentively.  “The ones seeding the stargates on the planets?”

Rush nodded, backing away from the secondary console so Eli could scoot in to have a look.  “Yeah.  We now have data on literally thousands of gates that have already been seeded.  Only managed to get through a fraction of it, but I found something quite interesting.”

Eli continued to read the Ancient text on the screen, his mouth falling open in stunned disbelief.  “Woah!  Almost the same mineral composition as the Icarus planet.”

Young looked thoughtful as he mulled over this new information.  “How long?”

“One year away,” Belle answered automatically as she continued to enter data.

“Naturally occurring naqahdria throughout the planet’s crust.  Ample for our needs to dial Earth,” Rush went on as if Belle beginning his sentence was the most natural

thing in the world.

Eli rolled his eyes, but was too excited to let their eccentricities get to him.  “One more year, we can gate back home?”

“Not quite that simple,” Belle said, her iolite eyes rather icy as she looked at the boy.  She was still quite upset with him for spying on Rush.

“We have to learn how to steer the ship, how to orbit the planet…”

Belle picked it up from there in a dry tone, still not happy about the prospect of returning to Earth.  “…not to mention how to make the gate work to dial home from there…”

Rush sighed, crossing one arm over his chest to grip the other.  “Yes.  As I said, much to be done…”  He turned to Young.  “…but we will of course need the master code.”

Young rubbed a hand over his lower face as he stared at the scientist.  “Well, then, you’d better get to work cracking it.  Sounds like you’ve got the better part of a year,” he said as he turned to leave the room.

“But the neural interface device—“ Rush interjected.

“…is still off limits,” Young said, turning back to his adversary.  “God! You think I don’t know what you’re doing here?” He pointed angrily at Rush.  “Crack the damned code, Rush.  That’s your job.”

Belle’s hands balled into fists at her side, but she somehow managed not to throw the curse, moldering away on her tongue, at the colonel.

X*X*X*X*X

Eli rubbed fitfully at his eyes in an effort to keep them open as he sat at his console wishing for a good eight hours of sleep.  He wiped the tears from his streaming eyes and blinked down at the console screen as a new alert popped up.  “Shit!” he cursed, rising unsteadily to his feet to search out the colonel to inform him of the new information.

X*X*X*X*X

Rush sat on the metal bench beside Belle, fiddling with his newly repaired glasses as Young stormed into the neural chair interface room and began to pace and screech before him, claiming him to be ten kinds of a bastard.

“Everett, really, could you tone it down a notch?” Belle asked, rubbing at her temples.  It was late and had been a long day.  She was tired and in no mood for one of his temper tantrums.

“You lied to these people!”

Rush snorted and folded his hands in his lap as he stared blankly at the man.  “I gave them hope.”

“False hope, Rush!” the colonel shrieked angrily.

“Yeah, well,” the scientist countered, “so was dialing Earth.  I knew it was pointless at the time, but you persisted.  Why?  To boost morale.  You tell me the difference.”

Young raked a hand through his close cropped dark hair.  “I’ll tell you the difference.  One’s a lie!”

Rush shrugged.  “Who cares?”  Young stopped in his pacing to give Rush such a look of loathing he should have perished on the spot.  “Who else knows about this then?” he asked.

“Camille overheard, so we can assume everyone on the ship knows.”

“Oh, lovely.  I’m sure she was just too happy to spread the news,” Belle snarked.

“Well done, Colonel,” Rush intoned, his voice dripping with condescension.  “You’ve just ruined the chance to maximize productivity.”

“I wasn’t the one who planted false information into the ship’s computer!”

“Look, there may very well be an Icarus-type planet buried in the data.  Belle and I have only begun to scratch the surface, but I’d be a lot further on if you would just let me use the…”

Young’s lips turned up in a sneer as he interrupted.  “Again with the chair.”

Belle shot to her feet, pointing her finger in the man’s chest.  “Yes, the chair!  It could very well be your salvation, colonel.”

“It could also kill somebody!” he raged.

“A sacrifice that could save the lives of everyone else on this ship!” Rush snarled angrily, rising to his feet and stepping around Belle.

Young walked to the closed doors of the room and slammed his hand against the wall panel, the doors sliding open.  He turned back before he could exit, getting right into the shorter man’s personal space.  “I’m not stopping you.  Go, sit.  Be my guest.”

Rush stared him down for a moment before his face crumpled in defeat, lowering his eyes as he turned away.  How could he put himself in danger when it would jeopardize not only his own life but everyone else on board?  Whether the man wanted to admit it or not, they’d be screwed without him.

“That’s what I thought,” Young said, backing away with one last contemptuous look at Rush.

Rush grimaced as he dropped back down on the bench and let his head fall into his hands in defeat.  Belle smacked her hand against the door mechanism, closing them in before she growled in frustration, the sound taking him by surprise.

“I fucking hate him!”

He looked up, startled at her outburst.  “Belle…”

“I’m sorry, Nicholas.  I don’t usually let myself feel so negatively about another human being, but that man…” she paused and took a deep breath.  “…there is just something wrong with him.  Do you think it’s the military training that’s made him this way?” she pondered for a moment.  “Maybe he needs to get laid.  What the hell is wrong with TJ?  I need to have a talk with her and—“

“Belle!”

She sauntered over to him, his eyes drawn to the gentle swaying of her hips.   She settled herself on his lap and wrapped her arms about his neck, brushing the hair away from his eyes.  “And what is wrong with you?” she gently scolded.  “If you’d wanted to plant false data in the computer, why didn’t you ask me to do it for you?”

He smiled against her lips and drew back to meet her gaze with a puzzled frown.  “You’re not upset that I was devious and underhanded?”

“Pfft!” she said, brushing it off.  “I don’t care if we ever go home.  I have Destiny and I have you…I don’t need anything else.  However, it is important to our shipmates.  I understand why you did it.”

“Do you now?” he asked, resting his head against her shoulder as his arms tightened about her waist.

“Of course.  I know you, Nicholas.  You wanted access to the chair, but at the same time you wanted to increase productivity and give everyone hope.”  She carded her fingers in his hair as he hummed his pleasure against her neck.  “I will not fault you for it.”

“Just my methods.”

“Naturally, darling.  If you’d have asked for my help…” she said trailing off as his hands traced along the bare skin of her back as he slipped his hands under her shirt.

“What?” he asked, pressing light kisses along her collarbone.

“If you’d asked for my help…you wouldn’t have gotten caught.”

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Yeah, I had to fulfill another prompt lol. Hope you enjoyed it, Jazz!
> 
> aquajasmine23 asked:  
> Me: "Rush and Rumpel are about ready to come to blows and I’m not talking about blowjobs!!" (Innocently spoken in one of our chats about how I didn’t know which story I wished to work on)  
> Jazz: Too bad, I'm prompting Belle gives Rush his first blowjob since Gloria and they both leave satisfied (unlike Things That Go Bump In the Night- poor Rumpel ;) ). Have fuuuuuuuuuun!!!
> 
> Since this episode was mainly focused on Scott and Camille on their downtime on Earth (that so wasn’t happening), I took a lot of creative license with the chapter. Hope you weren’t too disappointed (o: Now I’ve got good new...and bad news…
> 
> The good news is...I’ve been nominated for six TEA awards on tumblr! Squee! Best Author, Love Letters for Best Courtship, Another Chance for both Best Rushbelle and Best Crossover, Jefferson and Emma (Why Did You Stay) for Best Side Pairing and Jefferson (Why Did You Stay) for Best Supporting Character. Can I just tell you all how much love I’m feeling from all my readers for nominating me. You are so awesome!! If you would like to vote for any of these, voting commences on 2/2 and ends 2/7. Again, thank you all so much for nominating me (o:
> 
> Now for the bad news…  
> Next week my husband is coming home after being gone since Christmas and I will not have much time for writing. Therefore I will be unable to post again until 2/14. I know, and I’m so sorry, but I will be back.


	10. Justice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Anyone who has seen the show will know what I’m talking about…if you haven’t seen the show, disregard this note. Where the hell did they get the potatoes? Why didn’t we see the planet they apparently stopped at in order to get them? The first section is my thoughts on what could have happened (o:
> 
> Also: Thanks, hugs, snuggles to all who voted for me in the TEA’s! Love Letters won for Best Courtship! Squeeeeeeeee! Jefferson and Emma won for Best Side Pairing in Why Did You Stay and Jefferson won for Best Supporting Character in Why Did You Stay. You all are so amazing. Thank you!!!

 

 

 

There were two things no one ever wanted to encounter on Destiny. One…Rush when he’d had no sleep and two…Rush when separated from his assistant.  Option’s one and two together set everyone’s teeth on edge, and there was more than one nasty look directed at the colonel for his part in bringing about what the crew termed as an epic disaster.

 

“You’re not going,” Young had objected when Rush had protested the makeup of the team being sent down to the planet.  “You’re needed here to help Eli put together a report for Dr. Williams on the data we’ve collected on their failed experiment.”

 

Belle had flinched as Rush slammed both hands against his console in the neural chair interface room before pointing an angry finger at the colonel.  “Belle can remain on board and help Eli with that.  She doesn’t need to go off world.  She has no experience and isn’t trained for the dangers…”

 

“None of the science team is trained, Rush,” Young had countered.  “Something you neglected to think about before you stranded us all up here, I might add.  She’s got to learn somehow, and she has experience recognizing plants that may be beneficial to not only our medicinals, but to the kitchen as well.  She…”

 

“…is not going!” the doctor had snarled, squaring off against the man.  “I need her here.”

 

“Everett, please, will you give us a moment?  I’ll be in the gate room in thirty minutes,” she had intoned, crossing her arms over her chest as she leveled him with her pointed stare.  He’d quickly nodded, knowing she was the only person on the ship who would be able to get Rush to see reason whether he liked it or not.

 

“You’re not going,” he’d deadpanned the moment the door whooshed closed behind the colonel.  He refused to meet her eyes as he turned back to the console, confident she wouldn’t argue with a direct order from her boss.

 

Belle had arched a brow.  “You promised I could go with the team on the next viable planet, Nicholas.  Are you going back on your word?” she had asked, her questioning tone calm despite the underlying anger she felt towards his unwavering desire to refuse her.

 

The muscle twitched in the corner of his left eye as he continued to enter data on the program he was writing in his research on the chair.  “I promised you could go with the understanding that I would be with you.  I’m not letting you go off with those imbeciles who have no regard to your personal safety.”  He’d ducked his head lower over the console, his eyes curtained by his shaggy hair in an attempt to shield the worry there.  “Young is just being a bastard.”

 

Her features had smoothed out into a patient smile as she stepped closer to the console.  “This planet has so many resources we can use.  You’ve seen the readings from the Kino yourself.  Medicinals, food, water and even the limestone we can store away to use later when the scrubbers need to be cleaned and refurbished.  Young has assembled the largest away team yet and I want to be a part of it.”

 

“Lt Johansen can forage for her plants just as easily as you can,” he had protested, his knuckles white as he gripped the edge of the console.

 

She had covered his hand with hers and smoothed her fingertips over his knuckles, needing the contact just as much as he did.  “It’s not that you don’t want me to go as much as it is that you don’t want me to go without you.  I understand how you feel after what we saw on the Kino footage a few days ago, but you can’t let your fear get in the way of the mission.  We have to acquire these things.  They’re necessary for our survival.”

 

“And the rest of the team can do that without you,” he had snapped.  He knew he was being foolish, but he couldn’t seem to help himself.

 

Belle had thrown up her hands and growled in exasperation.  “You are, by far, the most stubborn man I know, Nicholas Rush.  I’m going!” she’d declared and stalked out of the room.

 

“Belle.  Belle!” he called after her, but she hadn’t returned.

 

That had been ten hours ago.  In the intervening time, he’d gotten little done, unable to concentrate wholly on his work. He’d snapped and snarled at Eli as they’d put together a report for the visiting scientist.  Dr. Williams had been more than happy to rush through the data in order to be out of Rush’s presence, though he wasn’t thrilled with the prospect of returning to his supervisors with no resolution of how to successfully dial the gate.  Park had tried to work with Rush on the program he was writing and had been seen leaving the neural chair interface room in tears.  Finally Young had ordered everyone to stay away from the chair room to give Rush his space to stew in his own anger.  It was an order enthusiastically obeyed by one and all.

 

It was also why everyone gave him a wide berth as he stalked towards the gate room with only three hours left on the countdown clock.  Brody stood at the primary console, monitoring the team as they made their way back to the gate to begin sending the last of the supplies in, logging it into the ship’s computer as the marines called out what they had, what would need to be analyzed and where the supplies would be stored.  He took one look at Rush and scurried over to the secondary console to resume his work.

 

“Williams wasn’t too thrilled with the data collected from this end of the experiment,” Young remarked coolly as he joined Rush at the console.

 

“I’m sure Eli will fill in any holes during the debriefing,” Rush said, staring straight ahead at the marines working to move the incoming crates away from the ramp.

 

“They’re concerned, especially that you were able to so easily put a stop to their program when they couldn’t shut it down,” the colonel said, giving the doctor a searching look.

 

Rush cast him a look of ill-concealed disgust.  “Just what are you implying, Colonel?  That I deliberately sabotaged their attempt to dial the gate?”

 

“Wouldn’t be the first time your ambition led to something like this—“

 

“Next time you want to question my ambitions, Colonel, think of it this way. If I hadn’t stopped that experiment, you wouldn’t be here now to complain about it,” he scoffed, turning to look up at the clock slowly ticking down above the door.  He gained immense satisfaction in the way Young glared at him and stalked away, but it was ruined in the next moment when Greer came through the puddle carrying Belle in his arms.  “Belle…”

 

He nimbly traversed his way through a sea of bodies moving supplies, unmindful of who got trampled in the process as he made his way to her side.  If she wasn’t returning to the ship under her own steam, she had to be hurt and he wanted to know who was responsible.  “For fuck’s sake, Franklin, move your ass!” he snarled, borrowing one of Belle’s favorite expletives as the man trod on his foot.  He ignored the throbbing pain and limped the rest of the way, determined to reach her.  “Belle, what happened?” he asked, holding out his arms to take her from Greer.

 

“Oh, Nicholas, it was so amazing!  I had the best time,” Belle gushed, her face alight with pleasure, her cheeks flushed a deep rose…from what he could see beneath the dirt and what looked like bruises…as she wrapped her arms about his neck and kissed his cheek in greeting.

 

Rush ignored her words, growling, “Nevermind that.  What the hell happened to you?”

 

TJ intervened on her friend’s behalf.  “She’s alright, Dr. Rush,” the medic offered by way of explanation.  “I’ve already bandaged her ankle and checked her for head trauma.  With a few days’ rest, she should be good as new.”

 

“She’s just clumsy as hell,” Greer chuckled when Rush shot him his patented death glare.  “Leaned over too far and slid about twenty meters into a ravine.  She’s a little bruised, but this is a good thing.”

 

“In what reality could this possibly be a good thing?” he thundered, his gaze swinging between the master sergeant and the bundle in his arms.

 

“Because maybe she’ll listen to me next time when I tell her no, don’t and stop,” Greer retorted with a slight raise of his brows.

 

“Pfft!  If it adds flavor to the…um…elk,” she scoffed, trying to find an appropriate word for the animal he and Scott had killed, “you took down, you’ll thank me for it.”

 

Having had enough, Rush turned on his heel and left the gate room, Belle cradled protectively to his chest.  “Never should have listened…stubborn woman…more balls than brains…” he muttered under his breath as he headed towards their quarters to fetch clean clothes for her.

 

Belle giggled and nuzzled her nose adoringly beneath his ear. “You think I’m ballsy?” she teased.  He snorted.  “Don’t be upset, Nicholas.  You wouldn’t believe the things we were able to collect.  We found the strangest looking root vegetables, but I think if we prepare them correctly, they might have the texture of carrots…well, as long as the green color doesn’t put you off of them.  And onions, beautiful spring onions, something that resembles sweet potatoes, leafy greens that will make a decent salad…and the fruits, Nicholas!  Oh the fruits are just to die for.  There’s one…it’s bright red…and I think it could be a peach, but it’s better than any peach I’ve ever tasted…”

 

Nicholas arched a brow, hard pressed to remain angry in the face of such abject glee as he continued his trek through the ship, listening to her expound on the team’s discoveries.  “Tea?  You found tea leaves?” he asked, catching upon a pertinent aspect of her ramblings. Oh if only it had been coffee beans instead, he thought petulantly.

 

She nodded cheerfully.  “I think so.  Think of it as a tea alternative, but after the leaves are put through the dehydrator and blended with some of the pits from the peaches and a few other ingredients I was able to find, I believe it will make some glorious tea,” she said, her eyes closing as she imagined the flavor bursting across her palate.

 

Rush set her on the bed in their quarters and retrieved clean clothes from the dresser.  He placed her yoga pants and one of his t-shirts on the bed next to her and knelt at her feet to inspect her ankle for himself.  “Well, I’m just thrilled you enjoyed yourself, because it won’t be happening again.  You’ll only go off world if I’m there to see to your safety,” he said with calm determination, his tone matter of fact and deathly serious.  “Especially since not one of those marines could see to it to return you to the ship in the same condition you left.”

 

Belle sat back, resting her weight on her palms as he removed the ace bandage wrapped tightly about her ankle, hissing slightly as his fingers probed along the purpling bruises.  “It’s not that bad,” she whispered as he cradled her foot in his hands, his thumbs gently brushing against her skin.  “At least I didn’t break anything this time.”

 

She grabbed her small bundle of clothes as he scooped her up into his arms and carried her to the lavatory at the end of the hall, easing her down on the double vanity.  He was angry, but she could also sense an underlying fear in him that had her feeling remorseful for putting him through so much stress.  He said not a word as he set to work, removing her one remaining boot and the thick woolen sock that covered her foot, nor would he meet her eyes as he pushed the flak jacket from her shoulders and untying the knot at the back of her navy halter top, baring her to his gaze.

 

Rush clenched his teeth, cursing in Ancient as he took in the bruises marring her left side along her ribs and the tender flesh on the inside of her arm as if she’d thrown it up trying to grab onto something to stop her descent into the ravine.  He was certain once he removed her pants she’d also have bruising along her hip and thigh.  “This never would have happened if you had listened to me!”

 

“Hey,” she crooned in low tones, “I’m ok.  I’ll be sore for a few days, but I’m alright.”  She threaded her fingers through his hair and tugged, pulling him in so their lips could meet.  She sighed happily when he didn’t draw away from her, but let her explore his mouth with her gentle kiss.  “I’m not going anywhere, Nicholas,” she murmured, trying to dispel his fears, “but if it makes you happy, I won’t go off world without you, unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

 

His hands fumbled uselessly at the waistband of her camouflaged trousers as he met her gaze.  “Did you want me to help you shower?

Seeing as you can’t stand on that sprain?” he asked, waiting for her permission.

 

“If you like,” she answered, smiling coyly up at him as her fingertips kneaded his upper arms in an attempt to soothe away the tension coiled so tightly in his muscles.

 

“Aye, I don’t want you to fall and injure yourself further.  I want to get the mud off of you and see just how badly you’ve damaged yourself.”  He gnashed his teeth as she reached for his shirt, tugging it free from the waistband of his jeans.  She was hurt; he couldn’t let his desire get in the way of his ability to care for her, but each little touch of her fingertips felt like fire igniting in his veins.  He captured her hands in his, bringing them to his lips and kissing her palms.

 

Rush let her go and made quick work of his clothes, shedding them with swift methodical movements, trying not to think of being in the shower with her.  He closed his eyes as he helped her to stand and she pressed against him, her pert breasts brushing against his chest.  He bit the inside of his cheek, focusing on the algorithms and equations he’d written into his program for the chair, anything to distract himself from her bare flesh sliding against his own.

 

Belle giggled as she shimmied out of her fatigues and knickers and wrapped her arms about his neck.  “Nicholas, it’s not very flattering when you do that, y’know?”

 

“Do what?” he asked, lifting her into his arms and carrying her into the shower stall.  He set her carefully on her feet, leaving her to balance herself against him as he turned on the spray and eased her under the warm mist.

 

His cock stirred against her belly where it was tucked between them as her lips trailed hot open-mouthed kisses along his collarbone.  “You’re doing math in your head again.  You only do that when you’re uncomfortable.  It’s your safe zone.”  She stopped and looked up at him through heavy lids.  “Do I make you uncomfortable, Nicholas?” she fairly purred, gently rolling her hips against him.

 

Rush whimpered and bit back a curse.  “You’re hurt, Belle.  What kind of man would I be if I took advantage?” he asked, reaching behind him for the washcloth hanging over the stall door next to their towels.  “As it is, I’m afraid to touch you for fear I’ll make it worse or cause you undue pain.”

 

Belle shook her head and brushed his wet hair away from his eyes.  “You won’t.  I’m sure it looks much worse than it actually is.”  She rested her head on his shoulder as he dragged the cloth over her back, scrubbing away the dirt and mud caked on her skin.  “That feels so good.”  It wasn’t a lie.  It had been what felt like forever since she’d had someone care for her in such a way and even longer since she’d trusted anyone so completely to do so.

 

She knew it was the same for him, which was one of the reasons it had taken him so long to let her in.  She felt privileged to have him trust her with his vulnerable side.  He had depth that so many men in her former life had lacked.  He was gentle and kind and his heart was true, something no one else on the ship would ever know about him.  They only saw his rough edges and the preventative measures he took to keep anyone from getting close to him.  She smiled as she pressed a kiss to his chest above his heart, reveling in the fact that he was hers.

 

Belle moaned softly as his hands delved into her hair, his fingertips exerting just the right amount of pressure against her scalp as he cleaned the long locks.  “Mmm, sometimes when we’re like this,” she whispered, “I can imagine it’s just you and me alone on the ship.”

 

Rush turned her around, his arm around her waist helping her maintain her balance.  “Yeah?” he chuckled against her ear as he set to cleaning her chest and shoulders.  “Just us…no Young, no one interfering with the mission, no one trying to usurp my authority over the scientific aspect of the ship.  That’s a lovely dream, mo ghrá.”  She turned again, taking the cloth from him and returning the favor.  “You’d miss Eli and Miss Armstrong, and specifically Lt Johansen, however.”

 

She held onto him as she made him turn so she could wash his back.  “But I’d have you.”  Her face fell as she thought of Eli.  “Besides, you never know whom you can trust with this lot,” she said with a hint of bitterness as she wrung out the cloth and draped it over the stall door to dry.

 

He reached behind her and turned off the spray, wrapping a towel about her bruised body as he used another to dry her hair.  “What do you mean, Belle?  I thought you trusted your friends implicitly,” he said dryly, a small smirk pulling at his lips.

 

She frowned as he wrapped the damp towel about his hips and lifted her in his arms, carrying her from the lavatory back to their quarters.  “I don’t trust anyone aside from you,” she said fervently as he laid her on the bed and peeled the towel from her, tossing it to the floor as he made her turn on her right side so he’d have a clear view of her left.  “I tried to be a little more trusting with my friends, but it seems every time I do, I’m severely disappointed.”

 

Rush huffed a laugh and raked a hand through his damp hair.  “Perhaps you’d like to continue being vague, but I cannot commiserate with you if I don’t have a clue as to what you’re referring.”

 

A wry grin curled her lips as she rolled her eyes.  “I’m sorry.  I had hoped I wouldn’t have to tell you at all, but I have trouble keeping things from you.”

 

She hissed as his fingertips skimmed lightly over her hip where a particularly nasty bruise was turning a vivid purple.  “I’m sorry, love, I didn’t mean to hurt you,” he said, pulling his hand back.

 

“No, it’s ok.”  She looked down and snorted at the mess she’d made of herself.  In a day or two the bruises would fade and she’d be right as rain, but for now she looked as though she’d been the loser in a prizefight.  Lovely.  She reached for his hand, twining her fingers with his, trying to get him to focus on something other than her injuries.  “Nicholas, you need to be careful.”

 

His brows drew together as he met her troubled gaze.  “I will, love.  I’ll be gentler—“

 

“No, that’s not what I meant.  I discovered something yesterday.”

 

“You discover something new every day, Belle.”

 

“Eli has been spying on you…for the colonel,” she blurted out, locking her gaze with his, the seriousness of the matter evident in her cerulean eyes.  Better to rip off the band-aid all at once.  “You need to be careful.”

 

“Fuck!” he cursed, rising from the bed to stalk angrily about the room as his temper flared.  “How long?”

 

“I don’t know, but there are hours of footage on his computer.”  She pushed herself up into a sitting position against the headboard and pulled the duvet over her chilled form.  She wondered why he'd even bothered to bring her a fresh change of clothes to the lavatory if he'd had no intention of using them.  Yet, it could be that he'd simply been too distracted.

 

“He’s a member of our team, Belle!  How the fuck are we supposed to work together if I have to worry about every single move I make being reported to fucking Young?!” he roared.  “And you were going to keep this from me?”

 

“Of course not.  I said I wished I wouldn’t have to tell you, not that I wouldn’t,” she retorted in her defense.  “You should know me better than that by now, Nicholas.”

 

He made a noise of contrition as he stopped his pacing to turn to look at her.  “Belle, I didn’t mean to imply you were untrustworthy,” he murmured, trailing his fingertips over her bruised cheek.  “Never you, mo ghrá.”

 

She reached for the ace bandage he’d discarded earlier on the nightstand and proceeded to roll it up so she could re-wrap her ankle.  “Poor Eli, he’s becoming brainwashed by the chain of command.  HWC forced him into this against his will, Nicholas.  All he wants is to go home and he believes Young can get him there.  He sees

Young and thinks military equals good, chain of command equals getting things done.  He doesn’t see all the shades of gray in between.  We must be careful, but we also must be diligent that your actions aren’t misconstrued.”

 

Rush pulled her foot from beneath the duvet and took the ace bandage from her hands, gently wrapping it around her swollen ankle.  “He’s still young and hasn’t had enough life experience to see through Young’s single minded purpose.  I suppose he’ll learn the hard way.”  He stretched out on the bed next to her and she curled into his side, resting her head against his chest, exhausted from her long day on the planet and sore from her injuries.  She needed sleep just as badly as Rush.  “Belle, you don’t…you don’t think I’d purposely set out to harm anyone do you?”

Belle snorted.  “I know you, Nicholas.  You’re all about the greater good.  I’m the only person on this ship you wouldn’t sacrifice if necessary—“

 

“Belle—“

 

She cut him off, covering his lips with her fingertips.  “Don’t deny it when you know I’m right.”

 

He didn’t answer, refusing to admit she was right as he felt the fatigue wash over him.  His long hours working were catching up with him and now that she was back on board and safe from any more harm, he could finally relax.  There would be time later to worry about Young’s scheming, but as long as his Belle believed in him, he could deal with whatever fate had in store for them.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

“I swear, if you give me one more page of calculations, I may throw this laptop at your head, Nicholas,” she growled as she looked over the screen at his irritatingly smirking face across the room.

 

“Then rest, my Belle.  The only reason I gave you the calculations to review was because you claimed you were bored,” he said calmly as he continued to make notations in his notebook and compare it to what he’d entered into the ship’s computer.  “Lt Johansen said you could resume active duty tomorrow at the earliest and we’re going to follow her instructions to the letter.”

 

“I missed my workout this morning,” she pouted, removing her flash drive and holding it out to him so he could plug it into the adapter and download the data into the console.

 

“Chloe and Lt James managed without you there to lead them through the steps,” he said, waving his arms about in a poor imitation of her aerobics moves.

 

She arched a brow at him and crossed her arms over her chest.  “Are you mocking me, Nicholas?” she asked in a steely voice, barely restraining the urge to pound the mattress beneath her with her fists.  Yet another sore subject that was causing disharmony between them.

 

Belle was already frustrated by the fact that he refused to touch her while she was covered in bruises, afraid he would hurt her, but TJ had only made it worse when she’d told him Belle needed rest for a few days to heal.  He had work to do in his research on the chair and had ordered…ordered…her to remain in bed.  Of course, being the stubborn creature she was, she had perhaps waited five minutes after he’d left their quarters to drag her clothes on and hobble off to the hydroponics lab to get started with the drying process of her tea leaves.  He’d been furious when he’d stormed into the lab and carted her off to the neural chair interface room.  And if she found out who tattled on her there would be hell to pay.

 

Rush had called Greer and Rivers into his sanctum and given them a list of demands to bring in one of the spare mattresses from the unused quarters to set up a pallet in the corner of the room so he could keep an eye on her.  She had just about everything she needed to keep her comfortable and entertained and she even had her work on Rush’s research to keep her busy.  Even so, she hated being idle.  She looked forward to her breaks during the day when she could be useful in other areas of the ship.  Not to mention, she wasn’t allowed to explore.

 

She growled in frustration.  “Rush, I have things to do in hydroponics.  Can’t I just check on the progress—“

 

“No,” he replied without looking at her.  “Doctors Boone and Park are seeing to your little project as well as their own in the lab.”

 

“The herbs I collected?”

 

“Already done and sent to the kitchens.”

 

The smell of roasting meat and vegetables already permeated the ship, making her mouth water.  It had been so long since they’d had a decent meal, and a celebration had been planned for dinner that night.  Considering the somber mood that usually ran rampant in the crew, a celebratory air would be more than welcome.  Too bad she wasn’t in the mood.  She couldn’t even find peace in her work, which usually brought her comfort.

 

She fidgeted, her irritation over her convalescence growing exponentially.  “I’m bored, Nicholas.  Can’t you take a break?  I’m tired of being cooped up in here when I’m really of no use to anyone.”

 

Rush continued to scratch away in his notepad.  “I’d take you to the observation deck for a bit, but I know we wouldn’t be there ten minutes before you’d be complaining again.”  He sighed and set his work aside, ambling over to her pallet and dropping down beside her.  “Another fifteen hours and you’ll be free to do whatever you like, Belle.”

 

She dropped her gaze to his hand covering hers and she turned it to slide her palm against his.  “I don’t like to feel useless.”

 

“You’re not useless,” he assured her, brushing a stray curl behind her ear as he pulled her forward to capture her lips.  “You could never be useless.  Why don’t you read for a while until it’s time to go to dinner?  Volker just charged your e-reader and I’m sure there’s something on there to keep you distracted until then.”

 

Belle chewed thoughtfully on her lip.  “You don’t have any more work for me to do?” she asked, raising doleful eyes to meet his.

 

“No, I’m waiting for your current work to finish downloading into the database.  You have some free time so I suggest you enjoy it.”  He brushed his fingertips lightly over the fading bruises on her cheek.  “At least you’re a quick healer, Belle.  It could have been worse.”

 

She nodded, reclining back against her pillows and switching on the device in her hands as he returned to the console to resume his work.  It had been so long since she’d had time to sit and read and although she missed the smell of ink and paper and the weight of holding an actual book in her hands, it was still nice.  But she couldn’t relieve the itch beneath her skin that made her want to get up and move.  She squirmed, a grimace gathering like a thundercloud on her face as she contemplated disturbing Rush once more.  However, she didn’t have a choice.

 

“Nicholas?” she asked tentatively.

 

“Hmm?”

 

“I have to go to the bathroom.”

 

He set his work aside and sighed, leaning heavily on the console as he looked up, a grin twitching at the corners of his mouth.  Without complaint, he moved to her pallet and lifted her in his arms to carry her from the room, pressing a small kiss to her temple.  “Why didn’t you say so?”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

“I can walk, y’know?” Belle protested as Rush carried her down the corridor to the infirmary.

 

“Not until Lt Johansen gives you the all clear…AND I’ll not hear another word, Belle.  I won’t have you injuring yourself further if you’re not ready to be up and about,” he said, tightening his grip on her.

 

Belle sulked silently for all of two seconds.  “You’re being an overbearing ass, Nicholas.”

 

“No, mo chroí, I simply want you whole and healthy,” he chuckled softly.

 

She lifted her hand to trace the dark circles beneath his eyes with her fingertips.  “You didn’t sleep last night, did you?  Even after you promised?”

 

“I laid down with you for an hour or so,” he said, staring down into her worried eyes.  He hated to see the concern for his health there in her gaze, but there was no help for it.  “You know how important it is for us to unlock the core systems, and with Young not wanting us to have access to the chair, it’s even more difficult.  I’ve got to work, Belle.”

 

Belle held her tongue and waved to TJ, who was with another patient, as

Rush bore her into the infirmary and settled her comfortably on a gurney.  “Hey, guys,” the medic said as she pulled on a pair of latex gloves.  “Belle, how’re you feeling?” she asked, turning Belle’s face to the right so she could have a look at the bruises covering the left side of her face.

 

“I’m good, TJ, but if I’m not allowed to get up and move around, I may very well go mad.  It’s been two days!  Can I please be off of terminal bed rest now?”

 

TJ chuckled and arched a brow.  “Terminal bed rest?”

 

Belle sniffed. “It might as well be with Rush monitoring my every move like a hovering mother hen. “

 

Rush chuckled, “No need to be dramatic, my Belle. I just want to make absolutely certain you’re healthy.”

 

Belle rolled her eyes.  “Nicholas, I’m fine! Aren’t I, TJ?” she asked with a hopeful lilt in her voice.

 

“We’ll see.  Let me finish your examination before I decide, ok?” TJ said, grinning broadly at her friend.  “It’s hard to believe you only sustained these two days ago,” she mused, inspecting her ribs.  “Perhaps they looked worse than I’d originally thought.”

 

Belle bit her lip and caressed the tea cup pendant hanging about her throat.  “I’ve always been a quick healer.”

 

“She’s too obstinate to be down for long,” Rush teased from where he was leaning against TJ’s desk behind the gurney.

 

“Alright, let’s have a look at your ankle,” TJ said, unwrapping the ace bandage.  She poked and prodded with her fingertips, frowning as she pressed gingerly along the tendons.  “Can you stand for me?”

 

Belle complied, breathing a sigh of relief as she tentatively put her foot on the floor and shifted her weight to it without pain.  She took a few steps at the medic’s insistence.  “It feels fine.”

 

“It doesn’t seem as though you have any lasting damage, but I suggest you wear the ace bandage for a few more days for added support.

 

“TJ, you haven’t turned in your shift changes, and…” Young paused, coming into the infirmary and seeing she was in the middle of an examination.  “Oh, I’m sorry; didn’t know you were busy.”

 

Belle waved him off.  “We were just finishing up, Colonel,” she smiled, thrilled to finally be back on her feet.  However nice it was to have Rush carry her all about the ship, it was getting a bit old.  Her normal boundless energy didn’t bode well for lying about idly.  “And I have our shift changes in the chair room if you’d like to come by later?”

 

“Thank you, Miss French,” he said, rocking back on his heels as Rush took the ace bandage from TJ and rewrapped her ankle with the greatest of care.  Young's gaze slid to the medic and he sighed, wishing there were words to bridge the gap that seemed to be growing between them.

 

“Colonel Young,” his radio crackled, Greer’s voice somber.  “This is Sergeant Greer.”

 

“Go ahead, sergeant.”

 

“I’m in Sergeant Spencer’s quarters.  He did not show up for duty.  I came by to check up on him.”

 

Young’s brow furrowed at the flat tone in Greer’s voice.  “Greer, what is it?”

 

Belle tilted her head to the side as the air seemed to crackle with tension.  She gasped at the sergeant’s next words.  “He’s been shot, sir.  He’s dead.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle looked up from the console where she was working silently next to Rush as Young, TJ, Eli and Scott trooped into the chair room and began to explain the details of Sergeant Spencer’s untimely death.  “Wait…so is it a suicide or not?” she asked, confused by the evidence, or lack thereof.

 

TJ shook her head.  “To all outward appearances, I would have said yes, but the gun is missing.”

 

Rush dropped down onto the stool before his console and clasped his hands together as he turned to Young.  “So…any suspects?” he asked.  When the colonel didn’t answer, he looked to Scott who remained just as tight lipped as his commanding officer.  “Well, excuse me for being blunt, but there is a killer on board the ship. Do we have any idea who did this?”

 

”I don't know. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it,” Young murmured, leaning against the door frame.

 

“It-it's unbelievable,” Eli stammered.

 

“Did he check his weapon into lock up after his shift last night?” Belle queried, wondering if Spencer’s weapon was the one that was missing.

 

“Every weapon on board has been accounted for except Spencer’s sidearm.  Whoever did this used it to…well…you know,” Scott explained.

 

“I don’t think it’s so unbelievable,” Rush scoffed.  “You put ordinary people under enough stress, I think you'll find they're capable of just about anything. Add to that the fact he was hoarding water and food, involved in several confrontations, I doubt you'll find many tears shed over this man.”

 

Scott bristled.  ”He was one of our own, Rush.”

 

“I'm sorry, Lieutenant,” Rush sniggered, his voice dripping with condescension.  “Was he your friend?”  Scott tried to meet his gaze, but eventually looked down.  Rush looked questioningly at the others, eyebrows raised.  “Did he, in fact, have one single friend aboard this ship?”

 

Belle sighed in frustration and scrubbed her hands over her face as she set his notebook aside.  “I don’t think so.  He had to have been one of the most disagreeable people I’ve ever met.”

 

“James hung out with him,” Eli said, shoving his hands deep into the pockets of his jacket.

 

“Vanessa tolerated him, I think.  I wouldn’t call that a friendship, though,” TJ added.

 

Scott shifted awkwardly.  “Alright, so no-one could stand the guy. It does not make it OK.”

 

Rush arched a brow and stabbed the colonel with his penetrating gaze.  “I didn't mean to suggest that it did. What I do suggest, however, is that, Colonel Young - you should try and find out who this killer is as quickly as possible.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

The entire crew gathered in the gate room to hear Young’s announcement, falling silent as the colonel entered with several of the military contingent falling into step behind him.  The soldiers, carrying weapons, clearly intent upon asserting their authority, spread out about the room, forming a perimeter.  Scott and Young ascended partway up the stairs to be head and shoulders above the rest, wanting to be seen by all.

 

“As I am sure many of you have already heard,” Everett began, “Sergeant Spencer was killed last night. He signed the weapon out of the equipment lock-up yesterday, and the nine millimeter handgun was not returned and is still missing.”

 

Concerned murmuring broke out amongst the crew.

 

“I'm aware of how extremely disturbing this is for all of us, so this is what we're going to do. Lt Scott, Eli, Mr. Brody, Lt James and Dr. Park were together playing cards in the mess at the time of the murder. They can all corroborate each other’s stories, which gives them an alibi.”

Immediately everyone started providing their own alibis to each other, several calling out to Young.

 

Dr. Palmer seemed almost belligerent. “Hey, I was in the Control Room all night.”

 

“Yeah, I was in the Hydroponics Lab,” Dr. Boone called. “Check the Kino footage!”

 

”Listen,” Young said, his voice echoing in the cavernous room as he held up his hands in a gesture for quiet.  “I'm sure others will have alibis, but some of us won't. I can tell you for a fact that I was in my bunk sleeping at the time, but I can't prove that, and that makes me as much of a suspect as anyone. That is why I am turning over full control of the investigation to Lt Scott.”  Everett descended the stairs, leaving Scott free to address the crew.

 

Chloe shifted nervously where she stood at the back of the room next to Belle, leaning over to whisper.  “Do you really think anyone is capable of murdering Spencer in cold blood?”

 

Belle reached for her friend’s hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.  “With the right amount of provocation, you’d be surprised by what people are capable of.”

 

“All right,” Scott said, his rifle held loosely by his side as he spoke.  “We are going to do a room by room search, starting with quarters, until the weapon is found. Now, everyone needs to stay here until that search is complete but, in the meantime...”

 

Belle rolled her eyes as Dr. Franklin stepped forward.  “You are not searching my room without me there,” he interrupted.  Several more spoke out, agreeing with the scientist.

 

“Anybody who wants to be there when their room is being searched can come along when their name is called. That fair?” Scott asked, pleased when more of the assembled nodded in agreement.  “OK. Doctor Franklin, you can be first. Who else would like to be present when their...”  He trailed off when over half of the crew raised their hands.  “All right, OK, I... it'll...”

 

He looked around to Eli who shrugged at him in a what can you do kind of way before continuing.  “It'll take all day that way but we can, uh, we can do two at a time,” he sighed, “If that's what you want.”

 

Belle leaned her back against the stargate and pulled the radio from the belt of her yoga pants with a groan.  “Nicholas?”

 

“Go ahead, Belle,” he said, his tone clipped and filled with impatience.

 

“They’re doing a search of everyone’s quarters and we’re all trapped here in the gate room until they’re done.  I’ll be delayed.  Can you transfer the data I was analyzing to the primary console here?” she asked.  There were a hundred things she’d like to be discussing with him at the moment, but couldn’t very well do that with Chloe glued to her side.

 

“What?!  Does Young really think that’s necessary?”

 

“Apparently,” she said dryly.  “You know he’s going to do this by the book.  I’ll keep you informed.  Just coordinate with me through radio and computer.”

 

“Fine,” he said, his weary sigh coming through loud and clear over the link.  “Rush out.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Young pushed away from where he was leaning against the outside of the stairwell as his radio squawked and Rush’s voice echoed in the room.  “Colonel Young, come in.”

 

“What is it?” the colonel asked wearily, pacing several steps away from TJ.

 

“I’ve found some new information regarding the Ancient Chair Interface,” Rush replied, the sound of keystrokes on the console sounding in the background.

 

Young sighed, shaking his head.  The man was single-minded when it came to the chair and he wondered if that would ever change.  “Have they checked your quarters?”

 

“Well, I don’t know, actually.  Belle is supposed to be handling that because I’ve got work to do.”

 

“Where are you?” Young asked, his dark eyes scanning the gate room in search of the doctor.

 

”The control interface room,” Rush snarled, impatient with Young’s dictates.   “Look, I've come across some very interesting data...”

 

”You're supposed to be here, waiting with the rest of us.”

 

”Colonel, obviously neither one of us had anything to do with this business.”

 

Young gnashed his teeth, vexed with the man’s unwillingness to conform.

“Well, that's not the point.”

 

”I thought, while all this was going on, it might give us the opportunity to keep working,” Rush snarked tetchily.  “Obviously I was wrong. Rush out.”

 

”Rush, get your ass back to the gate room. Rush?!” he growled, glaring acidly at the radio.

 

The radio crackled again, this time, however, it was Scott’s voice to interrupt his black thoughts.  “Colonel Young, this is Scott, come in?”

 

“Go ahead, Lieutenant.”

 

“You’re up.”

 

“Get started.  I’ll be there shortly.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

“You found the gun where?” Belle asked, looking up from the console as Eli and Scott regaled them with the details of their search.  She was still in a high state of dudgeon from being confined to her quarters after the suite she shared with Nicholas had been searched.  She’d just sat down to work at her console when Eli and Scott had come into the chair room to tell Rush and Camille what they’d found.

 

“In the colonel’s quarters in a vent,” Eli said, his arms crossed over his chest as he stared down at his feet.

 

“Well, this looks bad,” Rush said, shaking his head.

 

Scott shifted restlessly as he stared incredulously at Rush, unable to believe the doctor could think Young would have had anything to do with the murder of one of his men.  “It doesn’t prove anything.”

 

“That’s not the point,” Camille insisted.  “This is a question of morale.  A lot of people on board are going to have doubts.”

 

Scott turned his troubled gaze on Eli.  “Eli, you were flying a Kino in everyone’s face last night.”

 

“Just until the poker game, then…” he raised his head, understanding dawning on his face. “Then I put it in a search mode.”

 

“Well, maybe it caught something…something that might indicate that Colonel Young had nothing to do with this,” Rush said, rubbing at his upper lip as he leaned an elbow on the console.

 

“Or that he did,” Camille suggested.

 

Belle snorted, knowing the IOA representative would like nothing more than to have the military presence on board removed or corralled at the very least.  As much as she disliked the colonel, she liked Camille even less and didn’t want to see that woman with more power than she already wielded.

 

“I find that hard to believe,” Rush scoffed.  “Have you contacted Earth yet?”

 

“I was just about to use the communication stones,” Camille said, turning towards the door.

 

“Well, whatever your superiors advise, we are on our own out here.  Best we handle this ourselves.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle stood in the open doorway of the conference room where the evidentiary hearing was being held.  A chair had been brought in to serve as a witness stand and it faced a table where Chloe and Camille sat, representing both prosecution and defense.  On either side of the long room, more chairs had been set up for the crew members who wanted to bear witness to the insanity taking place before her.

 

It was bloody well ridiculous, she thought as she crossed her arms over her chest, one brow arched dubiously as she listened to Camille question first Dr. Franklin and then Dr. Volker about the colonel’s conduct.  Chloe seemed to be holding her own against the woman considering she had no more than a degree in political science.  It was ludicrous to think Young would have killed one of his own men.  He might occasionally lose his temper- and really, who on board hadn’t lost it over the past several weeks, herself included- but she didn’t think his professionalism would allow him to act in such a heinous way.

 

Her eyes narrowed on Volker as he hesitantly spoke of a conversation between the colonel and Rush where Young complained about Spencer.  They were blowing it completely out of proportion, in her opinion, and it seemed it would only get worse as Rush took a seat in the chair, an impassive expression on his face.  She bit down on her lip to quell the groan that rose in her throat.

 

“I don’t remember the details of the conversation,” Rush said with a sigh of impatience.  He wasn’t happy to have been pulled away from his work to testify at this farce of a hearing.

 

“But you do remember speaking with Colonel Young about Sergeant Spencer?” Camille pressed.

 

“Well, the colonel was doing most of the talking.  I think he just wanted to let off steam,” Rush said, making it sound as if it were of little importance.

 

Camille paused a moment, meeting his eyes with a steady gaze of her own as she tapped her pencil against her notepad.  “Do you remember him saying that if things didn’t improve, he was going to have to take drastic action?”

 

“I’m not sure he used those exact words.”

 

“Do you agree that Sergeant Spencer was a disruptive force; that his attitude was damaging to morale and was only getting worse?” she asked, ignoring Chloe as she shifted next to her.

 

Rush clasped his hands together in his lap, never flinching.  “Yes.”

 

Belle’s eyes narrowed on him as the corner of his eye twitched spasmodically.  If she hadn’t been staring at him so intently, she would have missed it.  Just what are you up to, Nicholas, she wondered, recognizing one of his tells.

 

Camille continued.  “Then would you say that his removal from the situation has been a benefit or a detriment?” she asked, pressing her advantage.

 

Rush smirked wryly, tilting his head a bit to the right as he perused her glib satisfaction.  “I know what you’re trying to do.  You want me to suggest that we’re better off without him, therefore implying that Colonel Young may have drawn the same conclusion…that as commander he may have believed he had no choice.”

 

Camille’s brows rose expectantly.  “Well?”

 

“Well, that would be pure speculation and I’m having none of it.”

 

Rush joined Belle at the door when Camille released him from the witness stand.  TJ was up next.

 

Belle arched a condescending brow at her lover.  “For someone who had no intention or desire to bury the colonel, you didn’t hesitate to pick up the shovel,” she whispered so as not to disrupt the proceedings.  She didn’t give him a chance to defend his actions, turning back to listen to Camille and Chloe question TJ.

 

Rush turned on his heel and pressed a kiss to her temple, seeking forgiveness for whatever blunder he’d committed in her eyes.  “I’ll be in the control room for a while.  I want to process the data we uncovered on the chair this morning.”

 

She nodded, relieved he hadn’t taken her comment the wrong way.  She really didn’t want to fight with him considering everything else that was going on.  She pushed it to the back of her mind and concentrated on the medic’s testimony as TJ revealed the evidence she’d gathered that morning.  Apparently, she’d found an empty prescription bottle for sleeping pills in his room and TJ told the assemblage if he’d come to her she might have been able to help him.  It was also discouraging that without the proper equipment she was unable to perform an autopsy or other forensic tests that could prove the difference between suicide and murder.  All in all, things were not looking well for the colonel.

Belle backed away from the door and leaned against the bulkhead next to the door release as Camille called for a recess and everyone began to file out.

 

Camille slammed her hand on the table as she turned to face Chloe.  “What was that? We’re trying to get to the truth here,” she railed at the girl, her dark eyes flashing fire as she referred to the animosity that had sprung up between them while questioning TJ.

 

“I don’t think that’s even possible,” Chloe countered, crossing her arms defiantly over her chest as she stared at the shorter woman.

 

“We can’t afford to have an unsolved murder hanging over our heads.”

 

Chloe glowered at her.  “So forget about the possibility that the colonel is being framed and just get this over with?!” she declared hotly.

 

“I don't think Colonel Young is so far above reproach as you seem to think he is,” Camille hissed, pointing her finger at the girl.

 

“Oh, well, you're the human resources person,” Chloe sneered, her voice rising along with her ire.  “You would know all about that. In fact, you probably know more about every person on this ship than anyone. If we're throwing due process out the window, who do you think did it? We'll just go with that!”

 

Belle strode purposefully into the room.  “Ladies!  Do we really need to be fighting amongst ourselves?” she asked, her voice calm as she met

Camille’s wrathful gaze.  “Why don’t we have some lunch and give us time to reflect on what we’ve learned so far?”

 

“I really don’t think this concerns you, Miss French,” Camille said softly.

 

“No, but it concerns me,” Everett said from the open doorway.  “Might I have a word, Ms. Wray?”

 

Belle nodded to Young and tugged on Chloe’s elbow, prodding her to leave the room and join her in the mess.  “Belle, there’s no clear evidence that he did this.  It’s purely speculation.  Anyone on board this ship could have easily planted that gun in Colonel Young’s quarters and Camille acts as though she caught him pulling the trigger,” the girl fumed as she walked beside Belle down the corridor and entered the mess.  “What the hell is wrong with her?”

 

She led Chloe over to her usual table in the corner and sat down opposite her friend, smiling warmly at Becker as he brought them two bowls of steaming stew he’d made with some of the meat and potatoes they’d acquired on the planet.  She tucked in, savoring the burst of flavor on her tongue after so many weeks of protein bars and paste.

 

“Chloe,” she said around her first bite, “Camille is very ambitious.  Haven’t you figured out yet what is going to happen if Colonel Young is removed from command?” she asked, giving the girl a pointed look.

 

“Oh my god,” Chloe gasped, her spoon clattering to the table as it slipped from her numb fingers.  “She would be put in charge.”

 

“Which we all know she’s been clamoring for since we came aboard,” Belle supplied with a shrug.  “I don’t understand how she thinks she could do a better job, but it is what it is.”

 

Eli came in and sat down with them, casting a furtive glance in Belle’s direction to see if she was still harboring animosity towards him.  “Hey, guys.  How’s it going?”

 

“Better for us than the colonel,” Chloe admitted ruefully as she swirled her spoon around in her stew.

 

Belle tuned out as her friend’s discussed their views on the hearing.  The mess’s occupants consisted mostly of civilians, and she couldn’t seem to block out the conversations being held around her.

 

“You don't think he really did it?” Dr. Palmer asked from where she sat with Doctors Park and Volker.

 

“I'm not so sure what to think any more,” Lisa replied with a shrug.

Dale looked between the two women.  “Spencer was a menace, though.  We all know it.”

 

Brody leaned forward, his elbows against the table as he tried to keep his voice down.  “Well, maybe it’s just like Rush said.  Maybe Young thought he had no other choice.”

 

Palmer gave him a dubious look.  “No, that’s crazy.”

 

Volker shrugged again and returned to his food.  “Well, let’s face it…how well do any of us really know the man?”

 

Belle startled as Eli laid his hand over hers to garner her attention.  “Earth to Belle!  Hey, you ok?”

 

“Yeah,” she said, frowning down at her lunch as she took another bite.  “But whoever did this has gotten what they wanted.”  She nodded towards the table of civilian scientists.  “Already there’s dissension in the ranks.”

 

Chloe let out a growl of frustration and pushed her bowl aside.  Belle pushed it back at her friend with a pointed look, telling her without words that she didn’t need to miss a meal.  “There’s got to be something we’re missing!” she groaned, picking up her spoon once more.

 

“I’ve been over the Kino footage like ten times.  There’s nothing on there that either convicts or exonerates the colonel,” Eli protested as he took a sip of his cooling tea.  He sighed blissfully and winked at Belle.  “Kudos on the tea, however.”

 

“Hmm,” Belle hummed distractedly.  She shook herself out of her reverie.  “You need to go over it again.  There has to be something there.  It’s not like you not to have everything recorded that goes on.  It’s there, you just haven’t found it yet.”  Her eyes narrowed as she watched

Rush amble into the mess, grab a bowl of stew and make his way over to their table to sit next to her.  “What in the world has you so jubilant, Nicholas?”

 

“Don’t know what you mean, Belle,” he said evasively, tucking into his lunch with undisguised relish.

 

She knew better, however.  He had that glint of avarice in his eye and seemed entirely too pleased with himself.  It made her leery and suspicious and she was determined to get to the bottom of it.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle felt a chill skitter up her spine as the lights flickered on in the neural chair interface room and she couldn’t help but grip Rush’s hand tighter in hers as he led her over to the primary console.  His smug satisfaction had only increased in the last several hours when he’d discovered Young had stepped down from his command and turned the ship over to Camille’s rather questionable hands.  But she knew it wasn’t so much that Young was no longer in command that had Rush in such an exuberant mood, but rather the fact that Camille had given him authority over his science team, Eli included.  There was nothing more to get in the way of his research on the chair.

 

She opened her laptop and plugged it into the adapter Brody had fashioned for her, ready to set to work as Franklin set down his case and stared excitedly at the chair.  “So…this is it,” he breathed reverently, running his hand over the headrest.

 

“This is it,” Rush murmured in response.

 

“Very impressive- I mean, as far as chairs go,” Volker said, following Park and Brody into the room.

 

“Well, time will tell, I suppose,” Rush answered as he switched on his console.

 

Lisa Park took her place at the secondary console and did the same, the screen blinking to life.  “So, you sit in the chair and it downloads the secrets of the universe into your head?”

 

Belle huffed a small laugh, though it sounded strange to her ears.  She couldn’t shake the sense of foreboding that crept beneath her skin as she stared at the ancient device.

 

Eli wasn’t helping with his doom and gloom attitude.  “And then you die,” he said with mock cheerfulness.  “Yay!”

 

“Not necessarily, Eli,” Rush scolded with a sigh of exasperation for the boy’s lack of vision.

 

Brody circled around the chair, eyeing it with no small amount of skepticism.  “Every time it’s ever been tried…” he held up his thumb and forefinger a mere inch apart.  “…this close to death.”

 

“Who’s tried it,” Franklin asked with a puzzled frown.  Belle bit her lip to keep from rolling her eyes at the man.  Clearly he hadn’t studied up on the stargate program as much as she had.

 

“General O’Neil for one,” Belle said, pulling up the necessary program on her laptop to have it ready for Rush to begin.

 

“And he survived,” Franklin argued, not sure what the big fuss was.

 

“We don't have a little grey alien to set things right this time,” Brody snarked, referring to the general’s experience with the last neural device HWC had come across.

 

“No, we don’t,” Rush intoned, leaning against the console as he focused on the prize sitting in the center of the room.  “But this is an earlier model of that same device, possibly a prototype built very early in their evolution.”

 

Eli sighed as he leaned over Belle’s shoulder, his eyes soaking in the data on the screen.  “In my experience, the 1.0 version’s usually the most bug-y.”

 

Belle nudged him with her shoulder, not quite comfortable having him invading her personal space.  She’d never been able to focus on her work with someone peering over her shoulder.  “It’s also the simplest,” she retorted.

 

“Maybe it's really simple. Maybe it just tells you how to fly the ship,” Franklin suggested.  Belle stared at him incredulously, wondering how the man had ever been made a part of their team if he were going to make such asinine remarks.

 

“Well, I’m sure it’s a bit more than that,” Rush said, saving the scientist from her sarcastic reply.  “But your point is well made.  It’s knowledge of the ship we need.  If we’re to survive- or, for that matter, get back to Earth one day- then I’m convinced that this chair is the only way to do that.”

 

“Maybe there's a way of choosing what information gets downloaded,” Park said absently as she began to process the data on her console.

 

Brody shifted restlessly, crossing his arms over his chest.  “Or, maybe it’s just a matter of slowing the download so it can be cut off.”

 

“Hence the program Nicholas and I have been writing.  If there’s some way we can perhaps slow down the transfer of data it might keep it from deep frying our brains,” Belle replied, moments away from slipping into a trance-like state as she always did when she focused on her equations.

 

“There's only one way to find out.”  Rush left the console to stand at the back of the chair, placing his index fingers against the headrest, pointing to it.  “This is our priority now.”

 

Belle sighed as her eyes met his.  His obsession gleamed in the sable depths.  She’d seen it before when he’d been intent on solving the dialing sequence for the ninth chevron and just as it was then, she had cause to worry.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

The ship was quiet, too quiet, Dr. Franklin thought with a yawn as he continued to go over the data he was analyzing on his laptop.  There had to be something he was missing and he had to wonder if he was just too tired to see it.

 

Eli strolled into the room.  “Hey, still here?”

 

“Yeah, I got stuck with the late shift.  Belle dragged Rush off to grab something to eat and stretch her legs.  They should be back soon,” he said, looking up at the boy before turning back to his screen.

 

Eli nodded, moving to the console and switching it on.  “How's it coming?”

 

Franklin sighed wearily and rubbed at the tension along his nape.  “It's not,” he explained.  “We've run every Ancient systems diagnostic we've got.  Nothing.  Rush and Belle have tried to write a new program, but it seems like this thing...” He gestured toward the chair, “... is designed to prevent any kind of access except through the chair itself.”

 

“Which would prevent an alien species who doesn't happen to share Ancient physiology from trying to hack in, I guess,” the boy said with a nod.

 

“Maybe Rush is right. Maybe we're close enough for it to work,” Franklin murmured more to himself than to his companion.

 

Eli snorted.  “Believe me, if Rush thought it was safe, he'd be sitting there right now.”

 

“Yeah. Maybe,” the rotund scientist agreed.

 

”You should get some rest,” Eli said, stifling a yawn.

 

Franklin shook his head.  “Nah.  Rush is due to relieve me at twenty-three hundred. If I wasn't here, I'd never hear the end of it. Maybe you could go to the Mess and get me some of Becker's alien mashed potatoes? Or maybe some of that stew he served up for lunch.”

 

“Sure,” Eli said, sauntering slowly to the door.  “I’ll be back soon.”

Franklin offered him a weak smile and turned back to the chair, eyeing it thoughtfully.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Everett frowned down at the primer in his hands, wondering how Eli had been able to convince him learning Ancient was beneficial enough to suffer the headaches of becoming fluent.  “Just think…you’ll be able to appreciate the arguments Belle and Rush have when they think we can’t understand them.”  He tossed the primer onto the low coffee table next to the sofa in his quarters.  It might be incentive enough for Eli to learn, but not quite enough for Young to put forth the effort.

 

He leaned back into the plush cushions and rested his head against the back of the sofa, staring up at the ceiling.  It had been a long time since he’d felt so out of sorts.  Having stepped down from his command didn’t sit well with him at all.  Camille might think she was capable of leading these people, but would she really defer to him if an emergency arose and she needed his expertise and training?

 

“This is Eli,” came the boy’s frantic voice over the radio, disrupting the colonel’s reverie.  “Anybody on this channel?  I-I need help!!”

 

Young hefted himself hurriedly to his feet and retrieved his radio from his desk.  “Eli, this is Young.  What is it?”

 

“I-I have a medical emergency.  I need help now!!” he squawked, panic clearly evident in his tone.

 

Everett slammed his hand against the door release and set off down the corridor, his pace rapid.  “Eli, calm down.  Where are you?”

 

“Chair r-room.  I-I don’t know what to do…I…hurry,” he said frantically.

He nearly ran into TJ as she came out of a side corridor and raced along with him, her medical bag slung over her shoulder.  “What’s going on?”

TJ shrugged as she ran at his side.  “I don’t know yet.  I’m just responding to Eli’s pleas for help.”

 

Young preceded her into the neural chair interface room, his eyes rounding in horror as he rushed to Eli’s side.  Dr. Franklin was in the chair, his body convulsing as he whimpered, his eyes staring sightlessly ahead.  The prongs on the chair attached to the headrest dug deeply into the man’s temples, little rivulets of blood trailing down the sides of his face as Eli fought to unscrew them from the bracket in the hopes of freeing him.

 

“What happened?” TJ asked, not really expecting an answer as she set her bag down and opened it.

 

“I don’t know,” Belle cried, her fingers flying rapidly over the keyboard as she sought a way to release Franklin from the chair.  “Nicholas and I came back from the mess to start our shift and found him like this.”

 

Rush input data on the wall panel where the screens were lit up with the neural scans of the chair’s sole occupant to no avail, no one in the room willing to voice their fears.

 

TJ stared helplessly at the scientist trapped in the chair, his hand and feet captive in the clamps.  “How long’s he been in here?”

 

Finally - either because the program had finished or because Rush or Eli had found the off switch - the prongs withdrew from Franklin's head and the clamps released him.  As the headpiece flipped back over the top of the chair, he slumped forward. TJ and Young caught him, preventing him from toppling to the floor.

 

Eli raked a hand through his hair, pleading with the colonel to understand.  “I-I went to the mess for five minutes and when I got back he was already in the chair.  Belle and Rush got here maybe a minute later.”

 

Young glared suspiciously across the room at Rush who- as usual- wore an inscrutable expression on his weathered face.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

TJ stepped away from the gurney where they’d laid Franklin when he’d been brought to the infirmary and faced those gathered in the doorway awaiting news.  “Well, the convulsions have stopped but he's completely unresponsive. He's basically in a deep catatonic state.”

 

Camille raked a hand through her long straight hair and heaved a sigh.  “Is there anything you can do for him?”

 

“We could try a high dose of lorazepam, see if it'll bring him out of it, but I'm flying blind here.”

 

Camille hesitated only a moment before making her decision.  “Do it.”

TJ cast her gaze across to Young uncertainly, but he deliberately refused to answer or comment as he waited for her to remember that Camille was in charge now.  Eventually she returned her gaze back to Camille and nodded.  “Yes, ma’am.”

 

As TJ got to work preparing the syringe, Camille and Young left the infirmary.  Belle turned to him as soon as he gained the corridor where they were waiting for news.  “How is he?” she asked, wringing her hands.

 

Young walked a few paces away before his temper broke through the calm reserve of his training, hissing furiously at Rush.  “You just couldn’t wait, could you?”

 

“You are not going to blame Nicholas!” Belle screeched indignantly.  “This wasn’t his fault and you know it.”

 

“Anyone who had access to that room was under strict orders not to sit in that chair,” Rush said, coming to his own defense.

 

“You knew!” the colonel roared, his voice echoing in the stillness of the corridor.  “You knew the temptation was there.  In fact, you made sure of it by telling them it was our only chance.”

 

“We were there to determine the feasibility of accessing that information...” Rush said calmly in the face of Young’s rage.

 

Everett continued thundering at him as if Rush hadn’t spoken, bellowing over him.  “You wanted someone there…”

 

“…without risking anyone’s life,” Rush continued.

 

“BECAUSE YOU DIDN’T HAVE THE GUTS TO DO IT YOURSELF!”  He stood toe to toe with the doctor, staring down at him.

 

Rush flushed, his cheeks heating as he looked away from the man and Belle stepped between them.  “Enough!  It’s not his fault, Everett.  Now back off.  He cannot be held responsible for Franklin’s accident when the man had already been warned not to use the chair.”

 

Young continued to glare at Rush, who stared at the floor like an adolescent scolded by his angry father and it made Belle only want to lash out more.  Thankfully, Camille stepped forward and laid a hand on his arm.  “It was under my authority, so ultimately it’s my responsibility.”

The colonel turned and glared down into her stoic face.  “I know,” he hissed, regaining some control after his outburst.  He held her gaze for a bit longer before turning back to Rush who still wouldn’t meet his eyes.  Finally, he walked away, needing time to think things through.

Rush threw a long dark look at his back before grabbing Belle’s hand in his, twining their fingers and leading her in the opposite direction.

 

Scott whirled on Eli as Camille returned to the infirmary to help TJ.  “You've got those damn Kinos running day and night all over the danged ship and you are telling me not one of them saw something...ANYTHING!?”

 

“No!” Eli insisted.  “I’ve been over it twice.  There’s nothing there!”

 

“Look again,” he commanded.  “He was framed, Eli.  We are gonna find out by who and we’re gonna put a stop to it.”

 

Eli threw up his hands in defeat and whirled about on his heel to return to his quarters, hoping that this time when he went over the footage, he would find a glimmer of hope to help the colonel.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

“I don’t need you to defend me!” Rush crowed angrily as he followed Belle into the chair room, his face flushed an angry red as they continued the argument that had started when they’d left the infirmary.

 

She arched a brow at him, holding her tongue until Lisa edged her way out the door, leaving them alone.  “Yes, darling, because you were doing such a splendid job of standing up to him,” she drawled, her voice dripping with sarcasm.  “He had no right to say those things to you, and now you’re feeling guilty.”

 

Rush crossed his arms over his chest and stared down at the floor.

 

“Gods!  That’s it, isn’t it?  You’re feeling guilty because of what happened to Franklin.”  She studied the slight twitching at the corner of his left eye and groaned.  “You were hoping he’d do something like this to further our research, weren’t you?  You knew!”

 

“Yes.”  His shoulders drooped a bit under the face of her bitter disappointment.  “I knew there was a possibility he’d sit in the chair,” he replied in low tones.

 

“Oh, Nicholas,” she said, shaking her head as she cast him a pained look.  “You do play the game quite well, but one of these days your machinations are going to reach up and bite you in the arse.”  She reached up, putting a hand to her head to fight off a wave of dizziness as the ship lurched.  They’d dropped out of FTL.

 

Rush glanced up at the countdown clock above the door.  “That’s odd,” he commented, a frown drawing his brows together.  “Three hours doesn’t give us much time to go down to the planet if there’s one viable.  Why don’t you go down to the gate room and see—“

 

“We’re in the middle of a conversation, Nicholas,” she protested.

 

“And we can do this later, Belle.  Right now we’ve work to do.”

 

She glared at him, her eyes flashing blue fire as she stalked towards the door.  “Stubborn, controlling, manipulative asshole!” she grumbled as she left.  “We’re not done with this, Rush, I promise you.”

 

“I know, love,” he mumbled when she was out of earshot.  “I know.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

“Belle I really need you to do this for me,” Camille said as she hovered near the console in the gate room.  “With the shift in authority, I want a civilian to lead the team and it’s down to you or Rush.  Considering that only the ship exploding in a burst of flame could tear him away from his research; that leaves you.”

 

“He’s not going to be happy about this, Camille.  I just promised him a few days ago that I wouldn’t go off world unless he accompanied me.”  She took the fatigues Vanessa James thrust at her and turned to go change.  “You won’t mind explaining your edict to him, I’m sure.”

 

Park helped Volker with the large pack he lifted onto his back and handed him a small case filled with their testing equipment as  Kane joined them.  Camille moved away from the console as Belle came back in, dressed for the foray down to the planet, a small pack draped over her shoulder.

 

“Alright, it doesn’t look like there’s much vegetation around the gate, so you may have to widen your search,” Camille said, smiling faintly at Belle.  She looked around as Vanessa and another marine, both geared up for the expedition, stepped over to join the team of scientists.  “Lt. James and Airman Rennie will be providing security…”  She pressed the Kino remote into Belle’s hand that would give her access to the gate once they were offworld.  “…but you’re in charge.”

 

Belle rolled her eyes.  It was all about power with that woman, she thought irritably, but she held back her biting words, wishing to be off.  The sooner this could be accomplished, the sooner she’d be able to return.  Without waiting to see if the rest of the team followed, she set off up the ramp and disappeared through the puddle shimmering in the gate.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Rush fumed silently as he began to process the data he’d received from Franklin’s failed attempt to use the chair.  He could really benefit from Belle’s expertise with the computer.  Yet Camille had taken it upon herself to send his assistant down to the planet.  Perhaps it wasn’t the best thing to have the IOA representative in charge after all.

 

The radio crackled to life at his elbow where it rested on the console and he felt a burst of excitement at the news Brody relayed to him.  “An alien ship?  Are you sure?”

 

“That’s what Belle said,” the engineer confirmed.

 

He looked up at the countdown clock ticking away above the door, his heart racing with excitement.  “We’ve got just over two hours before we jump back into FTL.  I’m on my way!”

 

Rush hurried to his quarters and pulled on the fatigues he kept there, grabbing a messenger bag before he set out for the mess.  He had Becker prepare him two canteens and some of the dried fruit available.  Belle’s stalwart belief to always be prepared for any situation seemed to be rubbing of on him.  He thanked the man before darting towards the gate room.

 

Young stepped into his path before he could make it to his destination however.  “I was just coming to get you,” the colonel said.  Rush could still see that spark of anger in his dark eyes Young wasn’t quite adept at hiding.

 

“Not now,” Rush said irritably, trying to move around him.  “I have to get to the planet.”

 

“It can wait,” Everett snapped.

 

“Look, they found the remains of a crashed alien ship,” Rush tried to explain, wondering why the man wouldn’t just move out of his way and let him proceed with the mission.  “There's very little time before we jump back to FTL.”

 

Again Rush tried to move past him and Young firmly gripped his forearm, forestalling his escape.  “It can wait,” he reiterated.

 

Rush looked at him nervously, but nodded and followed him to Eli’s quarters.  Camille was there as well.  Eli pressed play on his laptop where the missing Kino footage he’d discovered was on display for their perusal.  It clearly showed a coldly determined Spencer in his quarters on the night in question, the only illumination in the room provided by the FTL lights shining through the porthole.

 

Nicholas leaned against the door jamb and crossed his arms over his chest, bristling at being delayed.

 

Spencer spoke into the Kino, recording what appeared to be his version of a suicide note.  “It's been about a week since I ran out of pills. Haven't slept much since. I can't think. Everything's ... I don't know.” He sighed heavily, resolute in his conviction.  “These people don't even realize they're inside a big floating coffin. I wish I could come up with something better to say.”  He looked away from the Kino for a moment, before squaring his shoulders.  “I’m sorry.”  The marine sergeant raised the pistol to his head and pulled the trigger.

 

Camille jumped and Rush cringed away from the sight.  Young watched him closely as Eli switched off the recording and turned away from the laptop.

 

“The Kino kept recording,” Eli explained, “but the file must have gotten corrupted in the transfer. This is all I could get.”

 

Scott shifted restlessly.  “The point is, it wasn't there when Greer found the body, so we know someone took it along with the gun.”

 

Young stabbed Eli with a penetrating stare.  “Who would have the skills to delete the file from the mainframe?”

 

Eli snorted. “It's not that hard, really. Anyone with basic knowledge of the ship's computer. Uh, at least a dozen people, if not more.”

 

Camille cleared her throat as she lifted her troubled gaze to the colonel.  “Colonel, I’m sorry.  I…uh…I-I don’t know what to say.  Obviously we need to re-think our situation.”

 

“Obviously,” Scott scoffed, weary of the woman and her ambitions to take over the colonel’s command.

 

“We should recall the team from the planet,” she said, moving to leave the room.

 

“No, no, we can’t do that,” Rush hurried to protest, preventing her exit.  “In over a dozen planets we haven’t had a single indication of advanced technology up until now.”  He gestured to the Kino footage frozen on Eli’s screen.  “This mess isn’t going anywhere.”

 

“He's right,” Everett reluctantly agreed.  “The ship could be important. I'm going too.”

 

“If you think it's really...”

 

“I'm not asking permission,” Young hissed, effectively cutting her off.  “I'm telling you.”

 

Camille tried to maintain her dignity as she nodded, ceding the leadership of Destiny back to the colonel.

 

Young glared at Rush as the doctor pushed himself away from the bulkhead.  “Let’s go.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Rush drank deeply from his canteen as he made his way across the rocky terrain surrounding the stargate.  Young walked stiffly at his side, but the doctor ignored him, focused more on the new discovery the team had made that should be around the next hill…

 

Nicholas rushed forward as the ship loomed into view, half buried in a ton of rock and debris at the top of a hillock.  Volker was standing beneath the hull of the ship, inspecting what seemed to be a hatch.  He looked up as Rush approached.

 

“Well, it’s not Ancient.  That much we’ve figured out.  The material, the design—it’s completely different,” the astrophysicist explained.

 

Dr. Kane stared up at the ship.  “It’s not emitting any radiation or EM fields.  It’s basically dead.”

 

Dale handed Rush a small hand held scanner as the doctor cast a searching glance around the area.  “Where the hell is Belle?”

 

Volker cringed as he pointed upwards to the top of the ship.  “Up there.”

 

He scrambled up the slope to investigate the hatch.  “Have you been inside?” he asked the two members of his team.

 

“We haven’t figured out how to open the hatch,” Dale said, “We’ll probably have to cut it open.”

 

“Belle!” Rush called, moving to the side of the forward cockpit so his voice would carry to her.  Her head appeared over the side as she grinned down at him.  “What are you doing up there?”

 

“I found another hatch up here,” she exclaimed excitedly.  “It’s got some type of puzzle lock and I’m trying to work it out to see if we can gain access inside.”

 

Rush shook his head.  If anyone could figure it out, it would be his Belle.  Young seemed more intent on the idea of the first hatch however.  “How much time would it take to cut it open?” he asked, turning to Volker.

 

“More than we have,” he admitted ruefully.  He had to be honest with himself; he’d love to see what was inside.

 

Young glanced down at his watch to check the time and motioned for Vanessa to join him.  “Lieutenant, let’s pack it up.”

 

She nodded.  “Yes, sir.”

 

Rush held the lead attached to the scanner up to the hatch as he monitored the data on the small screen.  “No, just-just give me a few more minutes,” he protested.

 

Young snorted.  “I don’t see how a few minutes is gonna make a difference.”

 

“Well, it might.”

 

“All right, I'm willing to push it if you are.”  He looked over at Volker.  “Take your team and head back to the gate.”

 

Dale frowned over at Rush, who was still scrambling around under the hatch as he tried to figure out the best way to open it.  “Are you sure, Dr. Rush?”

 

Rush glanced at the astrophysicist briefly, nodding.  “Yeah, we’ll be right behind you.”

 

“Belle,” Rush called out.  “Belle, come down from there.  It’s time to return to the ship.”

 

“I’ve almost got it, Nicholas,” she returned absently, pressing the symbols on the hatch in a different series.  “Give me five more minutes!”

 

“Now!”

 

Belle grumbled under her breath as she sat down and slid along the shiny metal hull to the gravel surrounding the ship.  Carefully, she made her way around the ship until she was standing at his side.  “Fine, but I don’t think we have time to try to get in this way either.”

 

“Grab your pack and head back to the gate with Volker and the rest of the team.  I—“

 

She cut him off, her brows drawing into a concerned frown as she cast a fleeting look between him and the colonel.  “Aren’t you coming?”

 

Rush shook his head, not sparing her a glance as he focused on the hatch.  “It’s alright, Belle.  The colonel and I are going to stay a bit longer.”  He set the scanner aside and brushed a curl behind her ear, realizing she was worried for him.  “I’ll be along.  Go on back to the ship.”

 

“I’d rather stay too,” she insisted.  She leaned into his touch, her eyes wide and fearful.  “I don’t like the idea of leaving you here with him, Nicholas.”

 

He sighed and stared off into the distance in the direction of the gate.  “Please, Belle,” was all he said, making his wishes clear.

 

“Don’t be late, Nicholas.”  She made her way down the slope, sliding and slipping when her tread lost traction.  She gave Young a pointed look as she grabbed her pack and passed him, making sure he knew without her having to tell him that she didn’t trust him in the least.

 

Satisfied that she was going to do as he wished, he focused once more on the hatch.  “You know, Volker was right.  This is unlike any other kind of alien technology we’ve encountered before.  If they’re indigenous to this part of the universe, they might be willing to trade- knowledge, information.”  He banged on the hatch, a hollow thud greeting him.  “There has to be a way in.”

 

“I know it was you,” Young said, matter-of-factly, his voice barely able to disguise his loathing for the scientist he’d come to view as his adversary.

Rush froze, his hands stilling on the hatch as he half turned towards the man.  “I’m sorry?” he asked, trying to sound nonchalant when his gut churned with trepidation.

 

“The files were not corrupted,” the colonel continued, squinting against the sun as he stared up at Rush.  “The Kino kept recording until you came into the room.”

 

Rush’s shoulders sagged resignedly now that his ruse had been exposed.  He really was going to have to get Belle to show him her little secrets for manipulating the ship’s computer.

 

“So let’s hear it,” Everett snapped.  “Let’s hear how you lie your way out of this one.”

 

Rush slowly turned and walked down the slope towards Young.  “I heard a shot,” he began, realizing there was no point in withholding the truth from the man now that he’d been exposed.  “I went to investigate and I found him.”

 

“And then you, uh, you decided to frame me for murder.”  Young glared at him pointedly, wanting…needing…clarification.  Young pasted a grin on his face, which turned out to be more of a snarl, when a smirk bloomed on the scientist’s thin lips.  

 

“That's a bit melodramatic,” Rush replied.   “No - I knew there wouldn't be any real evidence against you. The idea was to create just enough doubt to get you to step aside.”

 

“I see,” Young said, a mirthless chuckle falling from his lips.  “That was the idea.”

 

“Well, you're the wrong man for the job, Colonel,” he said in all seriousness, confident in his convictions.  “I'm sorry to have to be the one to say it but I think you know it's true.”

 

“Do I?”

 

“You don't believe in the mission,” Rush explained.  Young looked off into the distance, unable to look into the accusing sable orbs of his nemesis.  “You resigned your position as S.G. leader because you didn't wanna make the hard decisions, the life and death decisions. Well, that makes you a liability,” Nicholas sneered, his lip curling in disgust.  “I'm not proud of what I did, but I did it for the benefit of everyone on board.”

 

“The end justifies the means,” Young said, the calmness of his voice hiding the fiery anger in his dark eyes.

 

“Yeah, something like that.”

 

Abruptly and without warning, Young’s meaty fist flew forward and connected with the left side of Rush’s stubbled jaw.  Nicholas covered the spot with his hand as pain exploded in his head.  He doubled over as his senses reeled before turning to stare incredulously at the man who was responsible for his well-being.  This wasn’t supposed to happen.  The colonel had taken an oath to lead, to protect and care for those under his command.  This went against everything he knew about the man.

 

Rush straightened, dazed; only to have the colonel hit him again and again.  He fell to the ground after the third blow landed, his mind a haze of pain, but he knew if he remained there defenseless on the ground, the people stranded aboard Destiny would be left alone, unaware of the true nature of the man before him.  His Belle would be left without him and that was unacceptable.  He held his bleeding lip with his left hand as the right scrambled beneath him, searching for anything large enough to use as a weapon.

 

As Young stood over him, waiting for him to get up, Rush picked up a small rock and threw it at him.  It gave him hope when it hit Young in the face and he used the distraction to heft himself to his feet and hurl his body towards the colonel.  They fell to the rock-littered ground and rolled over and over one another, struggling as each fought to gain the upper hand before coming to a rest at the bottom of the slope.

 

Everett knew what he was doing, had been trained in hand to hand combat and quickly gained the advantage over the smaller man.  He grabbed the back of Rush’s jacket and tossed him forcefully down, face first into the rock strewn ground, delivering a punch to his kidneys before lifting his head and slamming it down again.  He didn’t give the doctor a chance to recover, hauling him to his feet and gripping the front of his jacket to stare into his bleeding face.

 

His chest heaving with exertion, Young snarled ominously, “Are we done?”

Nicholas’s lip curled back over his teeth in a sneer as he searched the colonel’s face.  He ignored the pain, focusing on one last look at the man he was sure would be responsible for his death.  A surge of hatred flowed through his veins like molten steel as he hissed belligerently, “We’ll never be done.”

 

Everett slammed his brow into Rush’s, the blow effectively rendering him unconscious.  He let the scientist drop like a stone to the ground and looked down on him with rage churning in his gut.  After a long moment, he turned and set off towards the gate, trying not to think about what he would have to tell his crew.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle paced back and forth before the gate where she stood at the top of the ramp, her cerulean gaze frantically darting between her watch and the direction from which she knew Nicholas and the colonel would be coming.  They had mere minutes to spare and she could feel the raw panic burning in her chest.  She forced herself to calm as she took a deep breath and trained her eyes on the horizon for the first glimpse of the two men, her ears perking for the slightest sound.  What could be taking them so long?

 

Her heart stuttered in her chest and she could taste the metallic bitterness of fear at the back of her tongue as she watched Everett jog around the curve in the path and towards the gate.  She stood frozen at the top of the ramp, looking past him, waiting for Rush to follow behind him.

 

Young strode up the ramp and took her elbow, his face a mask of concern as he swiped at the blood trickling from the cut over his left eye.  “What are you still doing here?  I ordered you back to the ship with the rest of the team,” he blustered, trying to pull her with him through the puddle.

 

“Where’s Rush?” she cried.  “Where is he!?”

 

“There was a rockslide.  He didn’t make it,” he stated in solemn tones.

Belle stood her ground, digging in her heels as she looked back towards the area from which he’d come.  There had been no rumbling in the terrain beneath her feet, no rising cloud of dirt and rock on the horizon that would have signaled such and she knew.  She knew without the smallest hint of doubt that he was lying.

 

“You left him!” she shrieked, fighting off the stinging at the back of her lids.  “How could you leave him!?”  She pulled forcefully, trying to jerk her arm from his vise-like grip, but he held on.  “Let me go, you bastard.  Let me go to him!”

 

Young managed to pull her forward an inch or two towards the puddle.  “No, we have to go now.  The ship will be jumping back into FTL in less than two minutes.”

 

A myriad of emotions fought for domination within her as she turned to snarl at the colonel, to spew the hate and loathing she felt for the man.  She had a choice.  She could return to the ship and find some way to deal with the loss of her Nicholas, or she could try to find him, save him.  Her decision was simple in the end.  She would happily give her life for him.  The shock was like ice water flowing through her veins, but she couldn’t deny it any longer…she loved Dr. Nicholas Rush and she wouldn’t leave him to perish alone in this wasteland.

 

“Belle, we have to go!”

 

She relaxed her muscles and let him pull her forward, giving him the false sense that she would acquiesce to his wishes.  His grip on her arm loosened to the tiniest degree and she struck, using the full weight of her body to swing up and pop him in the nose with her elbow.  Her release was instantaneous as his hands rose to cover the injury.  She took advantage of his surprise and shoved him through the puddle, his eyes wide with disbelief as he disappeared.

 

The gate hissed as the connection was broken and she didn’t hesitate even a fraction of a second as she broke into a run, her muscles screaming as she pushed herself towards the last place she’d seen Rush.  Tears streamed down her face and her lungs burned from the exertion, but she didn’t stop. The sound of crunching gravel beneath her military issue boots was her only companion as she raced along the path.

 

A cry, reminiscent of a wounded animal, tore free from her chest as she spotted him lying on the ground and she spurred her feet to move faster.  She dropped down to kneel next to him, shoving the pack from her shoulders, unable to bear the weight for another moment.  He was still and unmoving, his poor face covered in blood and dirt from his fight with Young and her hands reached out tentatively to touch his battered cheek.  She felt for a pulse with shaking fingers, nearly sobbing when she felt it throb steadily beneath his jaw.

 

Belle sat back on her haunches, sighing deeply as her heart resumed a more natural tempo in her chest.  She lifted his head into her lap and leaned over to block the sun from his face, mentally cursing Young to the seventh circle of hell for what he’d done.  She carded her fingers through his dusty locks as her eyes scanned their surroundings, ignoring the niggling fear in the back of her mind that predicted certain doom if they remained where they were.  The temperature was already dropping as the sun faded from the sky and she knew they’d have to find shelter soon to protect them from the elements.

 

Pain was the first thing he noticed and a groan of agony escaped his chapped and bloodied lips as he returned to consciousness.  A soft shushing sound and the tender stroke of fingers in his hair was not, however, what he was expecting now that the events of the day were rushing through his mind.  A soft hand cupped his cheek and he flinched away, almost afraid to open his eyes.

 

“Shh, darling, I’ve got you,” the gentle voice crooned softly.  A woman, his mind registered and his eyes flew open in shock and disbelief…his woman, his Belle.

 

Rush struggled into a sitting position and turned to face her, praying she was real and his mind wasn’t playing tricks on him.  But if she was truly real and not a figment of his imagination, it could only mean one thing.  She was stranded there just as he was instead of safely aboard Destiny.  He reached out a dusty hand to her, drawing back as it came in contact with the smooth rosy flesh of her cheek and a whimper of despair escaped his throat.

 

“Belle…”

 

She launched herself at him, winding her arms about his neck and burying her face in his shaggy hair.  “Thank the gods,” she cried, tears falling unchecked from her closed lids as she savored the feel of his arms around her.  “I thought I’d lost you and then it took you so long to wake up,” she sobbed.

 

He stroked his hands over her back, unable to resist pulling her closer, drawing on her inner strength to comfort him.  “You shouldn’t be here, love.  Why didn’t you go back to the ship as I asked?”

 

“I couldn’t leave you, Nicholas.”  She drew away from him to meet his gaze her chest ratcheting with pain as she saw the fear in his eyes.  “I promised I wouldn’t leave you.”

 

He rose unsteadily to his feet, pulling her up with him, not sure whether he wanted to kiss her senseless for caring enough to stay with him or shake her for disobeying.  He kissed her.

 

“What do we do now?” she asked as he tucked her head beneath his chin and scanned their surroundings.

 

“We need shelter,” he said, his eyes falling on the ship looming above them.  “And apparently we’ve only one choice if we’re to survive the night.”

 

Belle retrieved her pack and slung it over her shoulder before threading her fingers with his and pulling him up the slope behind her.  “Then I suggest we get started.”

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: OMG I never thought I would finish this chapter!! It’s the longest yet and can I tell you it gave me no end of grief. However, writing the last two sections was freakin awesome!! I really hope ya’ll enjoyed it. Would love to hear your thoughts on it, so please drop me a line (o: I know I wrote my o/s Desolation based on episode 11, but with this fic, I’m going in a completely different direction. In the next chapter there will be tons of original stuff that completely deviates from the episode. Belle and Rush are about to have a lot of hardship ahead of them, but it’s really going to make their feelings for one another stronger and allow them to grow. Thank you all so much for following this story and thinking enough of it to nominate it for TEA. You all are just amazing.


	11. Space

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: There is smut in this chapter so this is your warning if it’s not your thing, dearies.

****   


 

“I’ve never seen symbols like this before,” Rush said, barely able to make himself understood over the chattering of his teeth.  The temperature had dropped exponentially.  He just wanted to get inside the ship and perhaps find some way to activate its life support systems enough to offer him and Belle some much needed warmth.

 

Belle plastered herself to his back and snuck her hands beneath his jacket, seeking out what little heat his body had to offer.  “T-Try to turn the middle symbol and the top right.”

 

“Belle, love, it’s not going to work,” he grumbled, but it didn’t stop him from taking her suggestion to heart.    He frowned down at the puzzle lock before looking at her over his shoulder.  “You had time to work on it for a while today, but surely—“  She was wearing that smug I-told-you-so smirk that rattled him to no end, he mused.  “Fine.  Any other ideas?”

 

She felt him shiver as she pressed her cold nose just behind his ear.  “I-I don’t know, but the center plate’s design seems as if it might c-connect to the others.”  She reached around him to run her fingers along the deep grooves in the metal.  “Once they’re aligned, perhaps the plate will depress completely and open the hatch?”

 

Her lithe form trembled violently as she turned her face into his neck and he set to work twisting and turning the remaining seven plates until they formed what resembled a constellation…though perhaps not one he was familiar with.  The metal seemed to liquefy and reform into one solid plate as it lit with a faint blue glow.  She rested her hand over his, holding her breath as he depressed the plate and the hatch slid open.

 

“Oh, my brilliant girl, what would I do without you, yeah?” he asked, pulling her along behind him to the opening.  He laid down on his stomach and peered inside at the faint light, his curiosity piqued.

 

“What do you see?” she asked, pulling the trailing ends of her flak jacket around her more securely.

 

“It looks alright.  I can see the cockpit and the controls are alive.”

 

“But it was dead earlier when we used the scanner on it,” she murmured absently.  “Do you think by using this hatch instead of the one below, it somehow activated the core system?  That it could have just been dormant until the panel was used properly?”

 

“How about we don’t chew it to death and just be thankful?” he chuckled, anxious to get inside.  “Here, let me lower you down.”  He took her hands and lowered her through the hatch before dropping down beside her.

 

“We could have just used the ladder,” she said dryly, walking over to the panel beside the metal ladder and activating the door release to close the hatch.

 

Rush pulled her close and ran his hands briskly over her upper arms, trying to restore warmth to her shaking limbs.  “I find your sense of adventure rather lacking today, love.”

 

“Yeah, well, it happens,” she said with a shrug.  “I think we should check this place out and then sit down to have a chat, Nicholas.”

 

He grimaced at her pointed look, knowing he wasn’t going to be able to avoid that conversation for very long.  He nodded and let her go, moving to sit in the pilot’s seat to peruse the computer.  Thankfully, whatever race of aliens had crashed their ship on this planet, their written language wasn’t too altogether different than the Ancient language they used on Destiny.  It didn’t take long to access the life support systems and the fresh rush of air through the vents was a welcome relief as was the warmth that came to chase away the deep chill.  He sat back in the oddly shaped seat and pulled up the ship’s log, reading through it as best as he could.

 

“Nicholas, did you find anything?  It seems to be warmer in here,” Belle mused, coming back into the cockpit to join him.  She dropped a blanket she’d found onto his lap.  “There’s quite a bit here that should sustain us until we can find something better.  There are four crew quarters, a lavatory and galley and on the deck below this one are crates of provisions…mostly what looks like freeze dried rations…and some water tanks.”

 

He pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling his age as well as each and every ache and pain riddling his body.  “Well, that’s good I suppose.  It should give us a few days at least.  This ship isn’t going anywhere, however.  The propulsion is shot and without Brody, I don’t have any hope of fixing it.  The three man crew that crashed here sent out a distress beacon and were picked up just a few days after they were stranded.”

 

Belle leaned forward and stared at the screen where the log was still on display.  “So they didn’t even bother to scout farther afield.  There may be more to this wasteland than we’d originally thought.”

 

He leaned forward, his forearms braced on his knees, peering closely at her relaxed features.  “You think this is a camping trip, Belle?  I assure you it’s not.  We were left for dead!  We are in a barren wasteland where not even the most basic of organisms could hope to survive!”

 

“It’s not like we have much of a choice!” she shouted back at him.  “I’ll not just lay down and give up and I won’t let you do it either.”

 

He slumped back in his seat realizing there was no point in arguing with her when she’d simply find a way to assert her opinions and make him feel like a green youth in his freshman year of college.

 

She arched a brow at him.  “About that…” she began, her voice calm so as not to aggravate his temper further.  If it was one thing she’d learned from years as his colleague, it was how to manage his temperament.  “Would you like to tell me why Everett beat the crap out of you and left you for dead?” 

 

He looked away guiltily, pressing several buttons on the console before him.  Belle sighed.  “I’m going to take a wild stab in the dark and guess you were the one who framed him.”  It wasn’t a question and she didn’t expect an answer.

 

He nodded anyway.  “I needed to cast enough doubt on him to get him to step down.  I knew there wouldn’t be enough evidence against him to convict.”

 

“Damnit, Nicholas!” she spat, rising to her feet to pace the confines of the cockpit.  “How can you say you love me when you can’t bring yourself to trust me, to let me in?  We could have gotten him to step down some other way.  Instead you go about your devious machinations and end up left for dead.  You’re lucky he didn’t kill you outright!”

 

“I do trust you, Belle—“

 

“Not enough, obviously,” she snarked, crossing her arms over her chest as she glared at him. 

 

“I didn’t think you’d approve,” he said sulkily, the mask she’d seldom seen of late slipping into place.

 

“Oh don’t you fucking dare!” she shouted, her voice reverberating off the metal walls as her eyes flashed blue fire at him in the dim light.  “You are not going to close yourself off from me now.”

 

“You should have gone back to the ship…” he grumbled and she frowned, those low tones sounding foreign to her ears.  He turned away from her and let his brow drop into his hands.  “You’d be safe and warm instead of stuck here with me.  It’s all my fault.”

 

Belle cast off the blanket and went to her pack to retrieve one of her canteens.  She sat down opposite him again and pressed it into the hand hanging limp over the armrest as he sat there wallowing in self-pity.  “Drink, Nicholas, it will make you feel better.”

 

He drank greedily, rivulets of the life sustaining fluid running over his stubbled chin.  “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”

 

“Then you should have been more careful.  You should have _talked_ to me, Nicholas.  Between the two of us, we could have come up with an alternate solution to our problem instead of this harebrained scheme to frame the colonel for Spencer’s death.”  She rose from her seat and stretched her arms up over her head before offering her hand.  “Come on.  I want to see how badly injured you are and get some rest before trekking out of here to see what’s available farther afield…especially if we’re going to be stuck here.”

 

Rush clasped her hand tightly and let her pull him down the short hall to the crew quarters.  She settled on the third she ducked her head into, a light gold duvet covering the modest sized bed.  It wasn’t quite as large as their bed on Destiny, but it would be adequate for their purposes.  She pushed his filthy jacket off his shoulders as he toed his boots off and dropped to sit on the side of the bed.

 

She left for a moment to retrieve her canteen and a cloth she kept in her pack, setting them beside him as she reached for his shirt.  He hissed in pain as she pulled it over his head.  “I’m probably not going to be able to move in the morning,” he lamented.

 

“You’ll be fine.  From what you’ve told me of your upbringing in Glasgow, this isn’t your first fight.”  She winced as she took in the bruises already purpling on his lower back and sides.  “However, I’d have to say Young did a number on you.  It makes me feel better about his broken nose.”

 

“I beg your pardon?” he asked, grinning up at her and splitting his lip open again.

 

Belle dabbed at the cut with the wet cloth and smiled smugly.  “He tried to make me go with him through the gate and my elbow might have somehow connected with his nose.”  Her eyes finally rose to meet his, mischief sparkling in their depths.  “I could feel the bones crunch.”

 

“Why, Miss French,” he said, brushing his lips to hers in a feather light kiss.  “I do believe you have a mean streak buried beneath that lovely exterior.”  He let her push him back against the duvet, his hands falling at his sides wearily.  “But you should have gone with him regardless.”

 

Belle shook her head, her chestnut locks falling about her shoulders.  “I couldn’t leave you, Nicholas.  He lied to me…told me you’d both been caught in a rockslide and you hadn’t made it.”

 

“How’d you know he lied?” he asked curiously, lying still for her as she cleaned his face and neck with the cloth.  It was somewhat painful as she tended to the cuts on his face, but he accepted her ministrations without complaint.  As much as he regretted her decision to remain there on the planet with him, he couldn’t find it in himself to be sorry she was with him now.

 

“There were no tremors and no rising dust cloud that would signal such an event,” she explained, adding more water to the cloth and dragging it over his chest.  “He was trying to cover his ass.  He was certain I would be returning to Destiny with him and he would have surely wanted me to corroborate his story to the others.”

 

He sat up and pulled her to straddle his lap.  “Why’d you come back, Belle?” he asked, delving his hands into her soft hair, his thumbs tracing circles beneath her ears as he pressed his brow to hers.

 

She whimpered softly, chewing fiercely at her lower lip as she tried to hold the words back.  If she said them, they’d be real and she’d be unable to take them back…he’d never let her take them back.  “I-I realized I…I would rather die with you than live with Young and the rest of the crew.”

 

She wanted to close her eyes, to hide from the hope that sprang to life within his sable orbs, but his penetrating gaze held her captive.  “Why?” he asked, pressing soft sipping kisses along her bottom lip.  “Tell me, _mo chroí_.”

 

Her soft hands, which had just moments ago been administering comfort to his bruised and battered body, glided over his chest as she drew back to lock her gaze with his and he could see it in her eyes, bright and shining, before the words fell from her lips.  “I love you, Nicholas.”

 

His hands tightened in her hair as warmth flooded his cold limbs.  “You mean it?” he asked in barely more than a whisper.  “What was it you said before…‘we all say things we don’t mean when we’re about to die’?”

 

Belle smacked him in the center of his chest and pushed him back against the duvet.  “I’ll have you know, I don’t want to love you!  Love is pain and loss and heartbreak.  Do you really think I want to subject myself to that agony again?!” she cried.  “I assure you, I don’t, but I can’t seem to help it.  I chose to be with you.”  Tears streamed down her face as if a dam had broken within her.  “When I thought he’d…that you’d…damnit now I can’t fucking speak.”

 

He gathered her close and stroked his hand over her hair, her sobs shaking them both.  “I’m here though, Belle, and I’m fine.  I’m here, love,” he crooned.  “I love you, _mo chroí_ …my heart.  For so long I’ve loved you.  Love is more than pain, Belle.  It can be joy and happiness and warmth…if you let it.”  He pressed a soft kiss to her temple, content to hold her as she cried out all her despair, everything she’d bottled up for so long.  Even when she’d hidden behind her glasses and severe hair styles he’d never seen her so vulnerable.  “I’ll not leave you, my love…shhh…”

 

She sat up, still straddling him and pushed her heavy flak jacket off her arms to fall to the floor as she swiped at her tears.  She made a small sound of disgust.  “Look at me blubbering.  I’m a mess,” she tsked.  “How attractive is that?!”

 

“You’re beautiful, Belle,” he whispered, reverence coloring his tone as his hands kneaded the soft curves of her hips.  “My beautiful brave girl.”

 

She planted her palms on either side of his head, her lips mere inches from his own, her hair falling about their faces, cocooning them behind a chestnut curtain of silk.  “I don’t feel so brave right now,” she admitted ruefully.  “I’m afraid, Nicholas.  I don’t want to be afraid.  I’ve always had to be strong for everyone…my papa, my friends, my--”  She brushed her lips over his, mindful of the cut on his lower lip, stopping herself short before she could reveal any more of her past.  “I just don’t know if I can do it anymore.”

 

Rush gathered her close and rolled her beneath him, cradling her tear stained face in his warm palms.  “You don’t have to do it alone anymore, Belle,” he whispered, kissing the corner of her mouth.  “You have me.  We can be strong for one another.”  His lips glided in a whisper of a caress to the other side where he dropped another tender kiss.  “I love you.”

 

She believed him.  With everything she was or had ever been, she believed him.  They were stranded on a planet where they may very well be the only two humans.  With no Kino remote- she was still cursing herself for having given it to Volker when she climbed atop the ship- it wasn’t as if they could gate hop until they somehow caught up with Destiny.  She had him all to herself without the common distractions that had kept him from her over the past few weeks and she was more than willing to take advantage of that fact.

 

Belle wrapped her arms about him, her nails scratching lightly against the small of his back as he surrendered with a groan and claimed her lips with his own.  His hot tongue invaded her mouth with renewed fervor, all pretense of their worries melting away.  She shed her troubles as easily as she had her jacket and gave herself up to him, letting his warm hands cradle and tease as they slipped over her arms and down her sides to settle on the curve of her hips.

 

He slipped his hands beneath the hem of her grey shirt- one of the many she’d found exploring the Ancient crates- and slowly pushed it up, his lips leaving hers to pressed soft open mouthed kisses over her flat stomach.  Her now swollen lips parted on a gasp as his tongue dipped into her navel before biting gently along its edge.  Her muscles contracted as she arched into his touch, savoring the feel of his hands and lips on her bare skin.  The stubble on his chin scratched pleasantly along her ribs as he trailed them higher, following the hem of her shirt as he pushed it up over her breasts.

 

He stilled her hands as she reached for it to pull it over her head.  “No, _mo chroí_ , you’re my treasure to uncover,” he said with a devilish grin.  “Slowly.”  He captured her hands in his, kissing each of her palms before setting them beside her on the duvet.  She nodded ardently, holding his gaze as he returned his lips to her heated flesh.  She writhed beneath him as his tongue traced along the lacy edge of her bra, heat unfurling and expanding in her blood as it raced to her core and the tips of her breasts.

 

“For fuck’s sake, Nicholas! Would you just take my clothes off already!?” she hissed as his lips closed over her nipple through the nude silk and black lace covering her breasts.  He chuckled, the sound vibrating against her over-sensitized skin.

 

“Impatient, are we?” he rasped huskily, his voice deep and heavily laden with desire.  He caught the taut bud between his teeth and tugged, earning a keening cry that echoed through his body and went straight to his cock.  Her eyes flashed fire at him, the blown pupils showing just a tiny ring of blue around them.  He took pity on her and pulled the shirt over her head, tossing it carelessly over his shoulder to join the rest of their clothing.  His lips ghosted over the shell of her ear as he pushed her back against the duvet once more.  “Relax, love,” he crooned, his voice just as breathless as her own.

 

Belle nodded, gulping in heaping lungfuls of air as she tried to do as he’d bid.  She wanted him so much it was torture trying to calm her raging desire.  And of course he wasn’t going to make it easy for her as his hands trailed over her quivering flesh, his lips always following the same path.  He pressed soft kisses to her wrists, the crook of her elbow and the curve of her shoulder as his clever fingers found the clasp at the front of her bra.  She growled in frustration as his tongue dipped into the hollow of her throat and along the valley between her breasts, over her belly and to the inside curve of her hip, but never where she wanted him most.  He purposefully avoided the places he knew would have her keening with need as he stripped off her fatigues and boots and then he started again. 

 

She sucked in a sharp breath as he ran his tongue over the arch of her left foot.  “You realize I’m going to get you back for this, don’t you?” she warned as his callused palm kneaded her calf gently, his fingertips teasing the sensitive flesh at the back of her knee.  She jerked her leg out of his grasp and he shrugged, capturing her right and giving it the same attention.

 

Rush smirked, a smug twisting of his lips as he moved to kneel between her parted thighs.  He ran his hands along her smooth legs, his fingers toying with her skin as he drew closer to the glistening nest of curls at the juncture of her thighs.  “Do you want me to stop?” he teased, his brogue thick, the low tones nearly a physical caress.

 

She gaped at him incredulously.  “No!” she cried, “Don’t you dare.”  She sat up, her arms wrapping about his waist as she pressed her face into his chest, rubbing kitten like over his bare skin.  “Need you,” she murmured hotly.  Her lips closed over one flat nipple and he jerked convulsively, a slow hiss of pleasure escaping between his teeth.  His hands twined in her hair, holding her to him.  One hand trailed over his ribs to scratch lightly at the other and his skin prickled with goosebumps.

 

Breathing became difficult as he panted, his engorged cock painful as it pressed against the coarse fabric of his fatigues.  It was a small relief when her hands dropped to the waistband and popped the buttons free.  She pushed them over his hips and freed them from his legs before pulling him off balance to fall clumsily atop her.

 

Belle giggled and reached for him again, her hands delving into his tousled hair to hold him still for her kiss, her tongue gliding sinuously against his as she explored his mouth with relish.  She bucked her hips against his, seeking friction against her throbbing core as he gathered her close and cupped her breast in his palm, his fingers plucking at the taut peak.

 

“Nicholas…” she keened his name, breaking the contact of their lips, the sound causing fire to lick mercilessly at his lower belly.  “Please, Nicholas.”

 

His lips trailed along her jaw to nuzzle beneath at the succulent patch of skin where her pulse beat a frantic tattoo, laving it with his tongue before sucking it deeply into his mouth.  His long fingers reached down, parting her slick folds and he smiled against her skin, a surge of male satisfaction coursing through him at the wetness that greeted him.  Her nails scored his back as he slipped two fingers into her.  He knew he’d feel each and every groove she carved into his flesh come morning and he’d wear her mark with pride.  He moaned into her neck as his fingers thrust into her, his thumb circling her clit with just the right amount of pressure.  He wanted to drive every coherent thought from her mind, leaving only him to consume her.

 

Belle’s usually nonexistent accent thickened in a litany of _please, more, yes,_ and _don’t stop_ , each utterance fueling the fever in his blood.  His scalp stung as she fisted her hand in his long locks, the stripes covering his back from her nails burned and he howled as she shattered around his fingers and bit into the tendon in the crook of his neck. 

 

He pulled away from her just enough to glimpse her face.  She was glorious in her ecstasy.  “Open your eyes, _mo stór._ Let me see you,” he whispered, mesmerized by her flushed cheeks and parted kiss-swollen lips, but nothing compared to the sweet sight of her cerulean eyes and the love gleaming in their depths.  He withdrew his fingers from her, smiling darkly as he brought them to his mouth and licked them clean, savoring the sight of her widening eyes.

 

Her hand in his hair tightened as she pulled his head down to capture his lips with hers, moaning as she tasted herself on his lips, his tongue, reaching between them to cup him in her hand.  He jerked fitfully against her and he caught her wrist, pulling her hand up to kiss her palm.  “Not a good idea, love.”

 

Belle arched a brow as she raked her nails over his hips, reveling in the low rumble deep in his chest.  She rolled her hips against him, impatient to have him inside her.  She’d waited long enough for them to come together and she wasn’t willing to prolong it further.  “Please, Nicholas…”

 

Rush gave a vigorous nod, his jaw tightly clenched as he reached between them to take himself in hand and line them up.  His gaze locked with hers as he sheathed his turgid cock inside her welcoming heat.  He could’ve come simply from the raw desire spread out over her lovely features and her enveloping wetness.  He held himself still within her, pressing her into the mattress as she writhed beneath him, fighting to maintain the last bit of his sanity.

 

“Nicholas…” she whimpered softly.  “Move, darling, please…”

 

He brushed her cheek with the back of his knuckles, lowering his head to claim her lips.  “I love you, Belle,” he whispered, his voice so thick with emotion he would be surprised if she could even understand him. 

 

“I love you too, my Nicholas,” she panted, wrapping her arms around his back and pressing closer.  She’d never be close enough to the wonderful gift in her arms.  It was truly a gift as she’d thought never to experience love again after she’d lost Gold.  She was sure he felt the same after losing Gloria and yet they’d found one another.

 

He groaned from the sheer pleasure of being buried deep within his girl, his hips flush with hers and could have happily remained there forever, but the pressure building urged him to move, unable to put it off any longer.  He withdrew slowly, nearly leaving her completely before snapping his hips forward again, relishing the keening cry that fell from her lips.  He set a torturous pace of deep slow strokes, praying his control would withstand it.

 

“Faster, Nicholas!” she cried, her hips rising to meet him with each downward thrust he made.  He filled her completely, the sensation slowly driving her mad, the pressure building exponentially in her womb, her inner walls clasping him tightly and drawing him ever deeper.  She was on the precipice, ready to fall over into the abyss as he thrust erratically within her.  Harder, faster, deeper, steadily pushing her to the edge until the world melted away and blinding light stole her vision, leaving them joined in bliss.  She came hard, the pleasure spreading out to singe her fingertips and curl her toes, her folds clasping and clenching him to a painful degree.  His heat flooded her as he spilled himself within her, the sound he made reminiscent of the vilest agony or the greatest pleasure, she couldn’t be sure.

 

Rush gasped, his breathing stuttered as he tried to remove his weight from her, but she held on with more strength than he’d expected from such a small woman.  He braced himself shakily on his elbows, giving into her fervent desire to clasp him close to her, his brow dropping sluggishly to her shoulder.  Finally, her grip loosened and he was able to roll to his side, pulling her along with him.  She curled into his side, silent but for the labored sound of her breathing.

 

He threaded his fingers in her hair, pushing a damp lock behind her ear as her head came to rest on his chest.  “Are you alright, _mo chroí_?”

 

“Mhmm…perfect,” she purred, snuffling softly as she pressed her face against his neck.  “I always knew we’d be amazing together.”

 

Rush chuckled softly as he pulled the duvet over them and wrapped his arms more securely about her.  He couldn’t even find it in him to be upset that she sounded so smug.  “And you’re always right, aren’t you love?”

 

Belle yawned, the stresses of the day more than her weary body could keep up with.  “Indeed I am.”  She fell asleep with a contented smile adorning her lips, not even their uncertain fate able to penetrate her happiness and steal it away.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

A long slow hiss of pain escaped from between Everett’s teeth as TJ treated the cut over his left eyebrow, the alcohol burning the wound caused by the rock Rush had hit him with.  He just wanted to retreat to his quarters to mull over his actions instead of having to face the accusing glares Camille was sending his way.  Scott and Eli seemed more stunned than anything.

 

“Where are Rush and Belle?  Why didn’t they come back with you,” she asked, her eyes narrowed with suspicion.

 

“We just stayed too long,” he said, his voice rough, his throat parched.  “On the way back, Rush tripped himself up, started a rockslide.  I was just ahead but I just…I barely made it through.  Belle—“  he yowled as TJ repositioned the cartilage in his nose and taped it to make sure it set.  “Jesus, Tamara!!”

 

TJ winced and gave a shrug.  “Sorry, had to be done.”

 

“That doesn’t explain why Belle didn’t come back with you,” Camille said, her frown deepening the lines between her brows.

 

Young sighed and shook his head as he lowered the cup of water from his lips.  “She was waiting for us at the gate, but when I returned without Rush she insisted on going back for him.”  He pointed ruefully at his swollen, disjointed nose and cringed.  “How do you think I go this?  I tried to pull her through the gate with me and she elbowed me in the nose.  It surprised me so much, I let go of her and literally stumbled backwards through the puddle.”

 

Camille ignored Eli who was pacing restlessly behind her, steadily chewing his thumbnails to shreds.  She squared her shoulders with determination, her pride a bitter pill to swallow.  “I just wanted you to know, Colonel; that I’ve informed the crew of the new evidence that’s come to light.  Since you’ve been completely exonerated, obviously you should resume your duties as commander.”

 

“Tomorrow,” TJ interjected, giving them both a pointed look before her gaze settled on her former lover.  “You need to rest.  She can be in charge one more day.”

 

Young sighed, drinking deeply from the cup as TJ refilled it and then packed up her kit.  Eli, however, couldn’t find it in himself to hold his tongue another moment.  “So what the hell are we supposed to do now? Rush and Belle know…knew…the systems more than anyone on this ship,” he railed, waving a hand about and gesturing wildly. 

 

“Eli…” Everett sighed wearily.

 

“And that’s not even considering what all Belle does on this ship.  She’s our team leader when it comes to morale.”  Both hands raked through his hair in despair as he thought of his friend left to die on the planet.  “She got me to exercise,” he said as if that explained it all.  “She made us tea and would mother me when I didn’t get enough rest and she was teaching me Ancient and…” his voice broke off as a choked sob escaped his lips.

 

“Eli, it was an accident.  We’ll find some way to get through this.  More responsibility will fall to the other scientists on the team and we will endure.”

 

The boy finally turned to face him, his eyes narrowing at the cold mask of indifference on the colonel’s face.  There was remorse hidden deep with the dark depths of his eyes, but it was the almost cold satisfaction to be rid of Rush that caused a shiver to trip up Eli’s spine.  No, he wouldn’t have deliberately left him there, he tried to convince himself.  He nodded, backing away towards the door, feeling as if he didn’t know who the colonel was anymore.  He’d thought him a good man, but the shell sitting on the gurney across the infirmary in no way resembled the man he’d come to look up to.  He just wished he’d have left a Kino on the planet with them so he’d know for certain. 

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle’s brow furrowed and she burrowed closer to Rush, her mind somewhere between slumber and waking.  She was cold and a slow nagging itch slithered unpleasantly beneath her skin, but she couldn’t recall hearing a noise or detecting any movement that would have penetrated her deep sleep.  She pried her heavy lids open, but it was the same metal walls that had greeted her yesterday in their borrowed quarters, the same gold duvet covering them and her pack sitting on the floor beside the bed.  Nothing to be concerned about, she assured herself as her eyes slid closed once more.

 

She had almost fallen back to sleep when the sound reached her ears, a clicking followed by a high pitched guttural trill.  Nicholas snored softly behind her, his face pressed against her nape.  What if some kind of animal had wandered into the ship?  She scolded herself for the thought a moment later, remembering the closed hatch.  _Then what could it be_ , she worried.  She had a pistol in her flak jacket, a nine millimeter Greer had convinced her to take with her for protection, but it was across the room and far out of reach.  She wished she’d had the foresight to tuck it beneath her pillow after she and Rush had made use of the lavatory and redressed to fend off the chill of the ship.

 

A shrill scream pierced the silence of the room as the door whooshed open and she scrambled up on her knees as Rush startled awake.  His back slammed into the headboard as the aliens swarmed into the room, He wrapped his arm around her waist, shoving her behind him as he gathered his wits and crouched before her, holding out his hands in a gesture of peace.

 

One of the aliens, his blue skin preternaturally bright in the dim room, trilled and two more of his compatriots filed into the room.  She couldn’t make out the primitive dialect of clicks and trills, but she was sure whatever they were saying didn’t bode well for her and Rush.  Her hands fisted in the back of his shirt and she could feel the barely restrained urge to flee humming beneath his skin.  She eyed the distance between her jacket, where the handgun was hidden, and the closest alien, knowing she’d never make it.

 

Nicholas seemed to sense what she had in mind and hissed at her to remain still.  “Don’t even think about it, Belle,” he warned, keeping his voice low and non-threatening.  “We do not want to antagonize them.”  She nodded even though he never took his eyes from the aliens before him and couldn’t appreciate the gesture.  He locked his gaze with the one who seemed to be their leader and slipped into Ancient.  “ _We mean you no harm_ ,” he said.  “ _We’re peaceful_.”

 

“I don’t think he understands you,” she whispered.  The leader clicked at her and gestured to his companions.

 

Cold long-fingered hands wrapped around Rush’s wrists and pulled him forward and his shirt was ripped from her grasp as he was hauled to his feet.  Another grabbed for Belle and she bit her lip to hold the cold terror that gripped her at bay.  “Nicholas!” she cried as he was led away from her down the corridor.

 

“Belle, calm down.  We have no choice!  There’s nowhere to run,” he said calmly.  “Perhaps once we get off this planet we’ll have a better chance of surviving.”  He could only pray he was right as he tried to reassure her.  He grunted in pain as one of the aliens prodded him in the bruised area of his back, pointing upward at the open hatch.

 

She twisted her arms until she managed to slip free of the alien holding her and ran to Rush, turning and hissing at the blue skinned freaks.  They were taken aback by her aggression and seemed to freeze for a moment as she held out one hand, gesturing for them to stop. She lifted Nicholas’s shirt with the other, the bruises, a vivid purple, clearly evident in the bright light streaming down upon them.  She shook her head as she met the leader’s electric blue eyes, warning him not to hurt him again.

 

Rush hastily turned and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her between him and the ladder.  “What are you doing?” he asked incredulously.

 

“I’m staking a claim, darling.  I thought that would’ve been obvious,” the tremor in her voice belying the bravado she strove for.  She in turn wrapped her arms about his waist and pressed herself flush with his body as she glared at the leader.

 

The Nakai general clicked and trilled at her, the two snake-like tentacles on either side of its mouth quivering in irritation.  He sent two of his fellows up through the hatch, leaving them with the two which remained and Belle relaxed her muscles, nodding at the leader now that he wasn’t trying to keep her from Rush.  She’d endured thirty years as a prisoner of the Evil Queen.  This would be a piece of cake as long as she wasn’t separated from Rush.  He was her lifeline and her strength; she couldn’t be parted from him.

 

The leader trilled sharply at her as he gestured for them to ascend the ladder, the sound sending another cold shiver of fear down her spine, but she obeyed without complaint, having won her first battle with the aliens.  She could feel the solid strength of Nicholas at her back and he threaded his fingers with hers the moment he was free of the hatch, pulling her slightly behind him as the aliens prodded them towards the crest of the hill where a small shuttle awaited them.

 

They were led inside and ushered into a small circular room, not even a porthole to let in the light as the door sealed behind them.  It was small, cramped and devoid of illumination.  Nicholas could feel her rising panic as her fear of tight spaces washed through her.  “Shh, Belle, I’m here,” he crooned, gathering her close.  Nicholas could feel her rising panic as her fear of tight spaces washed through her.  “Shh, Belle, I’m here,” he crooned, gathering her close.  His legs gave out beneath him, the stress and fear that had been choking him for the past hour more than he could bear and he collapsed to the cold metal floor, pulling her onto his lap.

 

“I’m afraid, Nicholas,” she whimpered, pressing her face into the crook of his neck.  Her fingers twisted in the fabric of his army issue t-shirt as tremor upon tremor rattled her petite frame.

 

Rush held her to him as he leaned on the wall at his back and threaded the fingers of one hand into her hair.  “My brave girl,” he whispered softly against the shell of her ear, hoping the calm tone of his voice would soothe her.  “You just stood up to an alien race whose intentions towards us are unknown and you’re scared of the dark?  Not you, _mo chroí_.  Deep breaths, steady breaths, that’s it,” he crooned, pressing a kiss to her temple as she obeyed.  “Close your eyes.  We’re back on Destiny, alone in our bed, curled about one another to sleep.  You’re safe in my arms, Belle, and nothing will harm you…I’ll not allow it.”

 

Belle trembled, but took comfort in his lilting voice as she tried to relax, trying to picture the scene he painted for her.  She knew they were empty words as their future was so uncertain, but she willed herself to believe them.  If there was anything he could do to save them, he would. “I love you, Nicholas.  Don’t leave me,” she pleaded.  “I need you.”

 

“I’m here, my Belle.  I’ll not leave you.  Shh, don’t cry,” he murmured, his heart sinking as he felt her tears wet the front of his shirt.  “It’s ok, I’ve got you.”  He fought against his own fear of the unknown to be strong for her.  So many times she’d defended him, cared for him and believed in him.  He wouldn’t let her down now.  “I’ve got you, my love.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle’s lower lip disappeared between her teeth as she paced about the room, surveying their new surroundings.  They’d been shunted from the shuttle and down one long dimly lit corridor after another, an endless catacomb of cold grey metal.  It irked her that the deeper they traversed through the ship, the more her fear mounted.  She’d endured worse in her lifetime.  This should be no different, yet it was. 

 

When she’d gone away with Rumpelstiltskin to be his caretaker, she’d been frightened at first, but she’d quickly seen through his beastly façade to the man beneath.  He would never have hurt her physically.  Mental torture was another matter, she thought wryly.  His little dance around his feelings and then throwing her out of the castle had been nothing less than agony.  Regina, once she’d captured Belle, hadn’t been very creative in her methods.  Being locked away in a tower, chained to the wall with poor food and nothing to occupy her time aside from thoughts of what she’d lost had worn on her sanity, but it wasn’t painful.  When the queen would grow bored with whatever scheme that demanded her attention, she would visit Belle to taunt her about the Dark One, but again, she was able to endure, knowing Regina couldn’t keep Rumpelstiltskin from her indefinitely.  However, the thought of these eerie creatures cutting into her flesh to experiment on her was more than her courage could handle.

 

Seeing the chamber they’d been brought to, did little to alleviate her fears.  Lighted rods along the gray walls illuminated the room, but there were no portholes to allow them to see out into the vastness of space.  The stars would be a comforting sight, she groaned inwardly.  It was like being in the asylum all over again. She looked around once more, surveying their surroundings.  At least then she’d had a window albeit a small one.  A metal slab sat to one side of the room and a chair much like the one they’d found on Destiny dominated the other.  She studied it with a troubled frown as she noticed the tuberous wires extending from it to the wall panels where a multitude of screens lay black and silent.  There were clamps about the foot and arm rests and she rubbed absently at her wrists.  The slab wasn’t much better and she refused to look at it longer than necessary.

 

Rush’s arms encircled her waist from behind, providing a comforting warmth at her back meant to reassure her as he rested his chin atop her shoulder.  “You’re trembling, _mo stór,”_   he whispered, pressing a kiss beneath her ear.  “Tell me what you need.”

 

“Just you, Nicholas,” she murmured, her voice strained with the effort to hold her tears at bay.  “Don’t let go.”  She turned in his embrace and pressed her face into his neck, breathing in his familiar scent.  “What do you think they’ll do to us?”

 

“I honestly don’t know, Belle.  Try not to think on it.  Perhaps we can talk to them, trade something in return for our freedom.”

 

She snorted.  “I don’t see that happening.”  He didn’t either, but he wasn’t about to add to her fears.

 

Rush held her, his hands roving over her back in soothing strokes from nape to hip until he felt her relax into him.  He’d studied the room, knew what it was for and what he could expect from it, but he didn’t want to alarm Belle.  He’d never seen her like this before and it disturbed him greatly to see her in such a state.  And there was only one man to blame…Young.  There were his own actions to be taken into account.  He shouldn’t have tried to frame the man for murder, but Young shouldn’t have left him on the planet either.  He was certain they could have come to some type of accord without the need to abandon him.  Yet that wasn’t what fueled the rage that hummed beneath his skin.  It was because he’d left Belle there as well.  If they ever returned to Destiny…which didn’t seem likely at this point…he would deal with the man personally.  Anyone who would leave a man behind to die in a wasteland, didn’t deserve to be in command.

 

Rush was jerked from his reverie as the door whooshed open and three of their captors entered the room.  He ushered Belle to a corner of the room, pressing her against the wall and taking a protective stance before her, his lips curled back from his teeth in a snarl.  He didn’t like the way the blue nightmare stood with his two flunkies a few paces behind, their posture clearly deferent to the leader.  This wasn’t the same alien commander that had taken them from the planet, but perhaps the mission commander.  _Fuck!_   He had little hope that he or Belle would be able to so easily sway this one.

 

The Nakai commander gestured for his fellows to advance on their captives, the clicking and trilling grating on Rush’s already over sensitized ears.  He shrank back, pressing into Belle as she molded to his back, his hands curling into fists at his side.  He would endure whatever they threw at him so long as they didn’t harm his girl.  He swung a well-aimed jab, but the alien simply sidestepped him.  He didn’t have a chance.  Long cold electric blue fingers curled around his forearm, jerking him away from Belle.  His arms were forced behind his back as they restrained him, the second alien doing the same to her.  He was dragged forward to face the commander, flinching away as a cold metal cylindrical device was pressed into his neck.

 

Rush’s vision blurred and he slumped against the alien holding him, slipping easily into the black abyss of unconsciousness.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle blinked groggily as her head rolled against something padded.  She frowned as she fought off the haze of her drugged sleep.  For a moment she forgot where she was before it all came flooding back in and she glanced frantically about the room.  “N-Ni-Nicholas!” she gasped, unable to find him in the room.

 

She tried to rise, but found her hands and legs restrained by the clamps on the chair upon which she sat.  She glanced down, taking note of the strange black rubber suit the aliens had dressed her in.  It chafed unpleasantly against her soft skin and the silver collar…or what she could see of it…was strange. Around it were what looked like nodes that something could be fastened to.    It was just like those the aliens wore and she couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to her own clothes.  She frowned and flexed her jaw.  Her face felt tight, like the moisturizer mask she sometimes used had hardened on her skin.

 

Several leads were attached to the stickiness on her face and near her temples.  She turned her head and could just glimpse some of the screens on the wall behind her.  One appeared to have a brain scan while another showed a thermal scan of her body and bone structure.  Her heart rate increased as she realized she wasn’t alone in the room, her eyes locking on the Nakai scientists hovering over the slab against the far wall. 

 

“What have you done with Nicholas?” she asked, not really expecting an answer.  “Nicholas!”

 

Their commander turned to advance on her and she couldn’t help but shrink back further in the chair as he clicked at her in his primitive dialect. His tone clearly told her to cease with the prattling.  Her gaze returned to the slab as the other aliens moved aside and she could see Rush’s prone form.  Tears stung her eyes as a sob rose to choke her.

 

“What have you done to him!?” she cried, struggling against the clamps.  The commander trilled a warning- maybe an order …who could tell, really - and one of his subordinates came forward with that cylindrical device, pressing it to her neck.  She fought to stay awake, focusing all her energy on Rush and her desire to get to him, to no avail.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Camille was waiting for Colonel Young outside the infirmary after his check up with TJ and he couldn’t help but groan at the sight of her.  She was becoming nearly as big a thorn in his side as Rush had been.

 

“Colonel, off to file your latest report back to Earth?” she asked, a forced smile on her thin lips.

 

“That’s right,” he said, staring down at her.

 

She shifted, holding a clipboard to her chest.  “I’m curious about the details you intend to provide regarding the incident with Dr. Rush and Miss French.”

 

All hint of civility disappeared from his face to be replaced with a blank mask.  “I plan to debrief the general on _exactly_ what happened.”

 

“I’m scheduled to file _my_ report with Earth later today, and it may cast some doubt on your version of events,” she said, offering him a tight smile.

  
“There were only three people on that planet—me, Rush and French.  She’d already been sent back to the gate when the rockslide occurred and were she here, she couldn’t dispute my report.”

 

“I’m talking about the obvious issues between the two of you,” she replied, choosing her words carefully.

 

“That doesn’t change anything.  Listen…if you wanna accuse me, you should have the guts to come right out and accuse me to my face.”

  
Camille clasped the clipboard more firmly, only the whitening of her knuckles betraying her apprehension.  “I don't have proof of anything.”  
  
 _“I_  think you just wanna be in charge again,” he retorted.  
  
“I'm saying you had plenty of motive.”  
  
Young folded his arms across his chest as his brows rose.  “Really? Do you think that I want people on this ship suspecting me of murder?”  
  
“Maybe that burden is easier to bear than actually  _dealing_  with Rush.”  
  
“Well, I'll admit it…I don't miss the man.”  He turned on his heel and stalked off towards the communications lab, not giving her a chance to further her questioning.  He might regret having abandoned a member of his team on that planet, but he had been honest with Camille.  He didn’t miss the daily struggle he’d had with the man.

 

He nodded to Kane, Scott and Greer as he strode into the lab, effectively ending their discussion.  “Gentlemen.”

 

“Have a seat, Colonel,” Kane said, gesturing to a seat.  “I think we’re ready.”

 

Young lifted one of the stones from the box and held it for a moment before setting it down on the panel, closing his eyes as he anticipated waking in a strange body on Earth.  As the light levels changed around him, he slowly opened his eyes, frowning at his unfamiliar surroundings.  Instead of the communications room at Homeworld Command at the Pentagon, he found himself in a dimly lit corridor much like those on Destiny.

 

For a moment he thought he might somehow have switched with someone on board, but the markings etched into the walls were unlike any he’d ever seen on the Ancient ship.  He took a cautious step forward, glancing behind him as he searched for signs of life.  He glanced down at the unfamiliar clothing seemingly sticking to his clammy skin.  He’d definitely never seen anything like the black wetsuit with its wide silver collar worn by anyone in the Stargate program.

 

The colonel proceeded hesitantly down the long corridor and turned to the left as it branched off in several directions.  He stared curiously at a gaping hole in the floor and forced himself not to jump back as a platform rose before him.  He gaped incredulously at the alien with its large oval head, a raised ridge protruding from the center of its brow to the back of its hairless head.  It was about the same height as Young, but its spindly arms and legs complimented its equally thin frame encased in the same strange uniform he wore.  He was taken aback by the fluorescent pale blue color of its skin and the startling electric blue eyes that turned to stare curiously at him.

 

The alien paused momentarily, looking at him with undisguised disinterest before stepping off the platform and moving away down the corridor.  He moved to follow the strange being, but before he could take a step, he found himself back aboard Destiny, lying on the floor of the communications lab, Greer’s strong grip pressing him into the cool metal.

 

“Sergeant, what happened?” he asked, trying to slow the thudding beat of his heart to something bearable.

 

“I have absolutely no idea, sir,” the master sergeant said, breathing a sigh of relief as he loosened his grip on the colonel’s throat.  He helped him to his feet and backed away as Scott suggested a trip to the infirmary was in order.

 

It didn’t take long for TJ to take his vitals and assure everyone that he was fit for duty.  Scott stood nearby and rounded on Kane.  “Well, what do _you_ think?”

 

“I…I’m an I.T. tech, y’know.  I fix Earth computers, not Ancient communications devices,” the man said in his own defense.

 

Eli was the next to earn the Lieutenant’s accusing stare.  The boy shrugged.  “Malfunction in the connection?”

 

TJ wrapped her stethoscope around her neck and sat beside Everett on the gurney.  “Well, we don’t exactly know what these stone do, right?”

 

“No, not personally,” Kane replied.  “I just got put on stone duty because Riley’s not back on his feet yet.”  
  
“Look…all I know is that I did _not_ hallucinate that ship or that alien.  My imagination isn’t that creative.”  He rose from the gurney and rolled his left sleeve down before putting his jacket back on.  “Now, I wanna know exactly what happened, what went wrong and why.  Until then, the communications lab and that device are off limits.  Understood?”

 

He waited for a nod from all those gathered in the infirmary with him and then stalked out of the room.  Camille wouldn’t be happy she couldn’t make her report to her IOA supervisors, but there was nothing he could do at the moment.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

 _These aliens could give Regina lessons on the art of torture,_ Belle thought irritably as she relaxed against the cushion of water that buffeted her body.  She couldn’t find it in herself to be frightened anymore; she was too angry.  How long had she been here?  How long since the blue aliens had taken her and Rush from the barren wasteland where they’d been abandoned?  Three days? Four?  Time seemed to be suspended for her and she couldn’t find it in herself to care.  There was no hope, no escape.  Her lids dragged open to stare out of the observation window that dominated the tank filled with water they’d thrust her into, the room beyond silent and still.  Even if she hadn’t been submerged in cool water, she would still feel weightless due to the drugs the Nakai continued to pump into her system.  She took a deep breath, the apparatus secure about her face resembling an advanced scuba mask.  At least they hadn’t decided to kill her yet.

 

 

She might not be able to understand her captors with their primitive forms of communication, but she was adept at reading body language.  They were frustrated beyond compare.  Their science team had taken blood and tissue samples…why, she had no clue…no doubt to study her physiology.  She’d been poked and prodded and mind raped with the neural device attached firmly to the skin over her left eyebrow.  A shudder tripped through her at the thought of those beings digging around in her mind, searching for answers she didn't want to give.  They were more than curious about Destiny, and with more than a little difficulty in her drugged state, she was able to erect a mental wall to keep her secrets tightly locked away.  She supposed that was why she’d been placed in the tank.  She was of no further use to them now so she’d been tucked away for further study until they decided to kill her.

 

Her tears washed away as soon as they appeared in her eyes.  Where was Nicholas?  Were they doing the same despicable things to him?  Was he even still alive?  She pressed her hands to the glass as she felt more of their sedative drugs infuse her body through the tube, her muscles relaxing as she drifted off, her last thought of the man she loved as she succumbed.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Young paced anxiously outside the shuttle bay as he waited for the craft to dock, wondering how everything had fallen apart so quickly.  The enemy ship had arrived shortly after Destiny had come out of FTL with one command… _Surrender_.  Eli and Brody had done the best they could with bolstering the shields and re-routing power to the guns, but he felt as though they were nothing more than sitting ducks in a shooting gallery.  And to make matters worse, the ship had launched smaller shuttles to act as a diversion while one of them landed on Destiny and cut a hole in the hull to enable them to snatch one of his crew.  God only knew what they were doing to Chloe now.  A better question would be…how the hell were they going to get her back?

 

He’d recalled the shuttle when the enemy craft had retreated, not wanting Scott and Greer to possibly hit the small ship that had taken the girl.  Perhaps with the lull in the fighting, they would be able to put their heads together and come up with a plan.

 

The shuttle bay doors whooshed open and Scott’s face was awash with fear for his girlfriend.  “What the hell happened, Colonel Young?”

 

“Easy, Lieutenant, it was nobody’s fault.  We were not ready for this,” Young said, gesturing for the two men to follow.

 

“They gave up pretty quick,” Greer commented, falling into step behind his CO.

 

“Well, the attack may have been a distraction to try to come in close and take prisoners to try to gain intel.”

 

“Why are we the enemy?” Scott wondered aloud.  “Sir, that ship is still within shuttle range.  Request permission to take…”

 

“Permission denied,” Young barked, hurrying his step.  “You wouldn’t stand a chance.”

 

Greer arched a brow as he looked between his friend and the colonel.  “What are we going to do?  We can’t just let them take one of our own and not try to get her back.”

 

“I’m going after her,” Everett stated.  “I’m going to use the communication stones.”

 

“Sir, you are only assuming that’s the same ship that you were on,” Scott protested.  He still wasn’t convinced the colonel hadn’t hallucinated the entire scenario.

 

“Yes, well, I’ll find out when I’m onboard,” he said, his face set in a mask of determination as he entered the communications lab and took a seat at the table.

 

Young had Scott strap him down to the chair as Greer went in search of Kane to activate the communication device.  Already Scott was badgering him to take his place, to let him be the one to go after Chloe.  Young once again denied the man.  He had to do this himself.

 

Kane came in and took his seat at the table, powering up the device as he gave Young an aggrieved look.  “For the record, I think this is a very bad idea.”

 

“Duly noted,” the colonel said, his tone more than a bit condescending.  “This is the best of the bad ideas we’ve been able to come up with.  Now, go.”

 

Scott looked over at the technician.  “Twenty minutes, then we pull him out.”  Kane nodded in agreement.

 

Young held up the stone, Greer at his back, ready to strap his arm down as soon as Everett made the switch.

 

“Colonel, you can always go back in if you don’t find her,” Kane offered.  Scott nodded encouragingly.

 

Young reached over and dropped the stone onto the panel.  He breathed a sigh of relief when he opened his eyes to find himself back on the alien ship.  Cautiously, he set off down the corridor.

 

He felt like he’d been walking forever through the labyrinth of corridors when he turned a corner and came to an abrupt halt.  Immediately ahead, there was what appeared to be a small control room or laboratory…he wasn’t quite sure.  There were five of the strange luminescent beings working at the controls.  His breath caught in his chest as one of them raised his head and stared directly at him, chittering rapidly in the strange dialect.  Young remained silent, unsure of what to do.  The alien trilled disparagingly at him and then turned back to his work.  Everett didn’t hesitate another moment before he moved off down another corridor, leaving the beings behind as he continued his search for Chloe.

 

He frowned, narrowing his eyes on the dimly lit room at the end of yet another corridor.  The doors to the room were open and it was with some careful deliberation that he chose to proceed.  The room was sparse aside from the control panel and an airtight water tank that seemed to be imbedded in the wall.  The only other decoration was the lighted rods along the stone gray walls.

 

The tank drew his attention.  The glass was frosted and murky, but he could just make out a figure behind it.  He strode forward hesitantly, just able to discern the outline of the form in the tank.  It was more recognizable as humanoid rather than the odd shape of the alien beings and he wondered if it might be another prisoner they’d taken. Young swiped his hand across the glass, removing the frost and drew back in horror as he stared at Rush, his eyes widening.  The doctor’s eyes were closed and the lower half of his face was obscured by the breathing mask he wore, but it was undeniably him.

 

Young shook off his stunned disbelief and turned away from the tank, searching along the wall for the door release.  As the metal doors swooshed closed, obscuring his actions from anyone who might be wandering the corridors,  He moved to the control panel, hoping to find a release mechanism to drain the tank and free its captive, but the controls are too strange, nothing like he’d ever had to use before.  He gave up on it quickly and went to one of several sturdy metal pipes, but was unable to free it from the wall.

 

There was only one option left.  He hurried to the lighted rods and thankfully was able to remove one, the object heavy in his hand.  The fixture sparked from where he’d pulled it from the wall, but he sidestepped them easily.  He tightened his grip on the rod and swung it at the glass.  The rod thudding against the surface of the glass sent pain reverberating through his arm all the way to his shoulder, but he shook it off.  He swung again, this time small spider webs of cracks appearing on the surface.  Rush’s eyes opened and he flinched away from the rod swinging at the glass mere inches from his face as he wondered why one of his captors would try to get him out this way.  Twice more the rod fell and the glass shattered under the weight of the water pushing it forward.  Young ducked off to the side as the tank spewed Rush out and sent him rolling across the floor amidst the flood of water and broken glass.

 

Rush yanked the breathing apparatus from his face, tugging at the tubes attached to his body as he stared up in terror at the alien standing nearby watching him silently.  His eyes widened in panic and he scrambled backwards as the Nakai advanced on him.  The alien stopped and held out its hands in a placating gesture, trying to convey to the startled human that he meant no harm.

 

Rush frowned and looked back at the tank.  “Why did you do that?”  He pointed to himself when he realized the alien wasn’t going to be able to make himself understood.  “You want to help me?” he asked warily, more than a little surprised at this turn of events.

 

Rush climbed slowly to his feet, his legs trembling after being in the tank for so long, and reached his hand towards the console.  He picked up a device similar to the one secured over his left brow.  It was similar, yet this one had three red lights on it as opposed to the yellow lights on the one he wore.  He peeled the device from his brow and held it out to the alien.  “This is how you read my mind.  Do you understand?” he asked, holding out the one he’d dislodged from his skin.  “This one transmits, he explained.  He held out the one with the red lights.  “This one receives.”

 

He offered the neural device to the alien and Young took it, hoping it would allow them to communicate.  Rush backed away nervously, still wary of the blue monstrosity.  He knew he couldn’t trust him despite his attempts to provide aid.  Nicholas slowly pressed the red device to his brow, demonstrating how the alien should attach his own.  “Like this.  Here, like this,” he said, keeping his voice low and even.

 

Young lifted the device towards his temple and Rush nodded approvingly, but as it made contact with the cool blue skin of his host, he shrieked with pain.  Rush also cringed, his eyes squinching tightly against the pain.  Young collapsed to the floor, crying out in anguish and clutching his head.  Rush held his own head as he watched the alien gurgling in agony.  Finally the two devices connected and Rush closed his eyes as the aliens memories flooded into his mind.  He gasped as he saw Young place the communications stone onto the panel and switch with the alien, Young in the control room radioing Scott as he ordered him not to fire on the alien shuttles after Chloe’s capture, and Young switching with the alien a second time in an attempt to come to the girl’s rescue and finding Rush instead.

 

“Colonel Young!” Nicholas cried, reaching out to the colonel.  Young groaned and rolled over onto his side, still clutching at his head as the pain intensified and then…

 

“What happened?” Everett asked, breathing hard as he stared around at the familiar faces of his crew.

 

“He’s back,” Kane confirmed.

 

“Thank you, Captain Obvious,” Scott mumbled as he rushed to his commander’s side to remove the straps securing him to the chair.

 

“What just happened?” Young panted, staring up at Scott in confusion.

 

“The alien ship is closing in on us.  We—“  The lights flickered in the room and the floor shook with the impact of the blasts from enemy fire.  “We must have lost the connection.”

 

Young, freed from the chair, bounded to his feet and yanked the radio from his belt, calling all military personnel to their stations as he strode from the lab.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

The alien ceased its shrieking and took its hands away from its head.  Rush grimaced again as- inside his mind- he saw various images of the alien going about its daily routine, working in a lab, walking about the ship…and looking into another water-filled tank at the unmistakable form of Chloe Armstrong.  He held on just a moment longer, probing the creature’s mind in search of Belle.  He didn’t have time to enjoy the relief he felt as his eyes flew open to regard the alien as it slowly climbed to its feet.

 

Rush took a nervous step back as he realized the alien was in command of its body, Young having vacated it.  The alien approached him and reached out for its captive, but Rush wasn’t going back in the tank.  With a short jab, his fist connected with the alien’s maw, distracting him enough to enable Rush to get his hands about its spindly neck.  Growling, the alien tried to push him off, but the water and broken glass under its feet caused it to slip and it tumbled to the floor, landing hard on its back with Rush still clinging to its throat.

 

Rush straddled the Nakai and squeezed with all his strength, his teeth bared as hatred roiled in his gut.  The pain they’d put him through, the terror and fear they’d caused his beloved, fueled his desire for vengeance and he wouldn’t let go until he had it.  The alien gurgled and struggled weakly as Rush tightened his grip and snapped its neck.  He sat back on his haunches and tried to calm his thudding heart as it beat frantically in his chest.  The adrenaline pumping through his veins was as heady as any drug as he rose to his feet and took up the rod Young had used to free him from the tank.  He peeled the neural transmitter from his brow and dropped it to the floor with distaste as he headed for the door, leaving the alien behind.  He needed to find Belle and Chloe as well.  He had to get them back to Destiny before it was too late.  If the Ancient ship jumped back into FTL before they could board her, they’d be in no better shape than they were now.  In fact, they’d probably be worse.  He’d killed one of their own and he was sure they wouldn’t forgive that offense.

 

Rush kept the rod close to his side, his grip firm as he set off down the corridor, his bare feet silent against the cool metal floor.  His memories of the alien’s mind led him straight to the tank holding Chloe, and he only stumbled once as a blast from Destiny rocked the alien craft.  He set to work immediately, freeing her easily.  He ripped the breathing apparatus from her face and peeled the neural device from her brow as she laid prone against the wet floor.  She gasped in terror as her eyes opened and then stared up at him with wide eyed astonishment, finally recognizing him.

 

He cupped her face gently in his hands as he tried to reassure her.  “It’s ok, Chloe, it’s alright.”

 

“Dr. Rush!” she breathed, startled as he helped her to her feet.  “We thought you were dead!”

 

“I’m sure.  Come,” he said, gesturing for her to follow.  “We have to go.  I have to find Belle and get us out of here.”  He snatched up the rod once more and crept towards the door.  The ship shook violently under the weight of heavy fire and she grabbed his arm for support as he ducked against the bulkhead and peered into the corridor.

 

“Oh God!” she whispered shakily.  “Where are we going? How are we supposed to get back to Destiny?”

 

Rush led her out into the corridor as he fought to maintain his balance.  “This way,” was all he said as he concentrated on the alien’s memories to lead him to Belle. 

 

His gut churned with outrage as he entered the room where Belle was being held, her chestnut hair floating about her head like a cloud within the tank.  Her eyes were closed and he could imagine the despair that permeated her dreams.  He knew.  He’d experienced the lack of hope that had encompassed his every thought.  His heart fluttered, never having thought he’d see his beloved again.

 

“Dr. Rush, you need to hurry!” Chloe hissed from the doorway where she was keeping watch.

 

Without another moment’s hesitation, he set to work, pounding sharply on the glass with the rod until it fractured and broke.  He tossed the rod at his feet at the last second, his arm open wide to catch her as the tank spit her out.  The force of the deluge sent her crashing into him and they rolled together across the floor.  She sprawled across his chest and heaved in a deep breath hauling in a lungful of fresh air, the breathing apparatus having come off as they rolled across the floor.

 

Rush sat up and settled her on his lap as he removed the neural device from her brow.  “Belle, love, open your eyes,” he commanded softly as he cradled her in his embrace.  “Please, Belle.”

 

“N-Nicholas?” she murmured groggily, her voice raspy from disuse.  “What—“

 

“Later, _mo stór_.  We have to go,” he replied, helping her to her feet before taking up the rod again.  He wrapped his arm about her waist, tucking her into his side as he joined Chloe at the door.

 

“It’s all clear,” she whispered, answering his silent question.

 

Belle shook her head, fighting against the sedative still running rampant through her system.  “Chloe!  What’re you doing here?” she asked, her voice slurred.  She’d kill for a drink of water, her mouth incredibly parched.

 

“How about I tell you when we get the hell out of here?” Chloe snapped as she followed along behind them.

 

Rush shushed her and delved into the memories he had gained from the alien, leading them off down another corridor that would take them to the fighter bay.  If they could somehow get to a shuttle, it should be fairly easy to fly them back to Destiny, dock and re-board.  But of course, as Nicholas had learned, things are never quite simple when he was involved.  It was as if the gods sat around a poker table every Friday night plotting and scheming as to how they could toy with him.

 

The bay was teeming with Nakai and the odds were not favorable.  He pulled Belle over to hunker down behind a stack of crates, making sure they couldn’t be seen as he studied the activity in the large fighter bay.  How was he supposed to get to a shuttle with a young woman who had no experience with fighting and another who was barely lucid enough to walk on her own and armed with only a simple metal rod?  No, things were not looking well for them at all.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Colonel Young hurried into the control interface room and growled, “Report!”

 

Eli didn’t even look up from his console.  “Bad and more bad!” he snarked, irritated at the interruption.  He was already stressed to the breaking point at the pressure he was under to control just the right amount of power to the weapons system while trying to bolster the shields.

 

Brody was a little more forthcoming with the inevitable bad news, however.  “Too much power is going to the weapons.  Our shields are going to fail.”

 

“Bolster the shields,” Young commanded.  “Devote all remaining weapons power to the main weapon and keep firing on the big ship.”

 

“Wait!” Brody cried in amazement.  “They’re retreating!”

 

“Keep firing!”  Young snarled, torn between ridding the universe of their enemy and remorse over the loss of Chloe Armstrong.  He couldn’t allow Rush an attempt to escape from the aliens.  His guilt would be a small price to pay to be able to hold onto his command.

 

“We fire again, and we risk blowing ourselves up,” Eli warned in a quiet tone, trying to get through to the man.

 

“I don’t have a choice.  Do it.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Scott stared out of the cockpit window in stunned disbelief as the alien ship recalled its shuttles and prepared to slip back into hyperspace.  He and Greer had been preparing the shuttle- against the colonel’s wishes- to attempt a rescue mission.  One that seemed impossible now.

 

“Oh, they’re…they’re retreating,” he stammered, his gut twisting violently at the thought of losing Chloe.

 

“All of them except that one,” Greer said, pointing at the small shuttle approaching Destiny.

 

Greer unfasted his seatbelt and stood up, pausing just a moment before he withdrew the nine millimeter from his holster and clicking the safety off.  Scott did the same and led the way out of the shuttle bay.  They hurried, at a brisk pace, towards the area they thought the shuttle may have landed hoping to capture anyone stupid enough to try to board.  They stopped short as a grinding noise sounded in the corridor ahead and took up defensive positions behind a protrusion in the bulkhead as a red hot circle appeared above in the hull.  The laser burned through the metal as if it were butter and a section of the hull dropped with a loud thud to the floor below.

 

Scott and Greer took aim, easing out from their defensive cover, prepared to fire.  Chloe dropped through the hole without any warning, coming to a crouch atop the section of the hull, turning quickly to scan the area.  “Matt!” she cried, running forward to throw her arms about the lieutenant.

 

Greer kept his weapon trained on the gaping hole as Scott ushered Chloe farther away to protect her.  Belle was lowered through the hole to land nimbly on her feet, the last of the sedative having worn off to give her a better sense of balance.  Rush quickly followed, stumbling into the bulkhead and sliding to the floor.

 

Greer gaped at his friend for a moment before he was confronted with an armful of Belle as she hugged him happily.  “Miss Belle, you are certainly a sight for sore eyes.”

 

“Is that your way of saying you missed me, Ronald?” she asked, grinning cheekily up at him as he put his pistol away.

 

“Hasn’t been the same with you,” he agreed, returning her smile before he turned to Rush and confronted him.  He hadn’t been sorry to see the last of the arrogant scientist.  “Colonel Young said you were dead.”

 

Belle slipped away from the master sergeant and helped Nicholas to his feet, curling into his side as she slipped her arm about his waist.  “Oh, did he?” Rush asked casually, his disdain for the colonel slipping behind a cool mask of indifference.  “Did he say how it happened?”

 

“Rockslide,” Greer answered, one brow lifting as if daring the doctor to dispute the colonel’s word.

 

Nicholas felt Belle stiffen at his side, but a gentle squeeze to her hip forestalled her protests.  “Ah, well, obviously he was wrong again.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle slid into her seat at her usual table in the mess, rubbing her hands in anticipation as Becker set a plate piled high with roasted vegetables and a large portion of the prawns…or what resembled prawns, at least…in front of her.  They’d found them on the last planet they’d visited before everything seemed to fall apart with Spencer’s suicide and she had to admit she was thankful as she bit into one and her palate was overwhelmed with its delicate flavor.  She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been this hungry.

 

Nicholas slid onto the bench next to her and offered up a warm smile to see that her appetite hadn’t suffered any ill effects from their captivity.  He dug into his own dinner, even eating the small green salad- something he usually avoided at all costs.

 

Destiny had jumped back into FTL shortly after they’d boarded, for which he was grateful.  He wanted to put as much distance between the Nakai and Destiny as possible.  It felt good to be back in his own clothes.  Belle had dragged him off to the showers immediately and he had to admit he was feeling better.  He just wondered how long it would last.  Belle jumped at the slightest noise and her petite frame still trembled as she fought to put on a brave face for him.  She was feeling more secure now that she was ‘home’, but how long would that last when she was able to slip off to their quarters and the memories would assail her?  He’d just have to be strong for her as he knew she’d be for him.

 

And then, of course, there was the colonel to deal with.  That wasn’t a confrontation he was looking forward to.  Eli, Brody, Chloe and Volker entered the mess and quickly moved to sit with them.  Rush was sure they were dying for an account of what had really happened after they’d failed to return to the ship with Young.

 

Eli squeezed onto the bench on the other side of Belle and wrapped an arm about her shoulders, pulling her into a warm hug.  “I missed you,” he whispered, holding onto her.  “I’m sorry…I know you’re still mad at me and…I was wrong and…when you didn’t come back I didn’t think I’d get the chance to tell you.”

 

Belle gave him a peck on the cheek as he released her.  “I missed you too,” she admitted.  She looked at the others.  “All of you.”  She squeezed her friend’s hand and nodded, accepting his apology.  “I know you were following orders.  It’s a moral decision you have to live with,” she said, giving him a stern look.  She’d forgiven him, but that didn’t mean she’d let her guard down around him any time soon.

 

“So what happened to you guys on the planet?  How did you end up with the aliens who attacked us?” Volker asked, sipping at the tepid tea in his cup that Becker had brought to the table.

 

Rush took a sip of his own drink before he answered.  “My clever girl here figured out the puzzle lock on the hatch,” he said with no small amount of pride.  “I managed to…um…activate the systems on the crashed ship.  Found the database.  I guess I must have accidentally triggered some kind of distress beacon.”

 

Belle pushed her empty plate aside and nodded.  “I found water and rations as well.  We were going to set off the next morning to see if we could find a more habitable area, but the aliens showed up before we could.”

 

Rush stabbed a forkful of potato and nibbled at it thoughtfully.  “I’m kinda glad they found us.  We would probably have died otherwise.”

 

“Well, there were a few people who thought Colonel Young left you to die on purpose,” Brody said, folding his hands atop the table.

 

Rush smirked, reaching beneath the table to squeeze Belle’s hand before she could answer.  “I imagine there were.  No, no.  He would have rightly assumed that I was…I was gone…in the rockslide.”

 

It took every ounce of willpower she possessed to stop Belle from snorting at the blatant lies issuing forth from her love’s mouth.

 

Eli frowned suspiciously at Chloe, but she couldn’t seem to take her eyes off of her savior.  “So what happened when the aliens brought you on their ship?”

 

Belle shuddered and linked her fingers with Rush’s under the table.  “It was…terrifying, horrible, and about twenty other adjectives I could use,” she murmured.

 

“To be honest, I don’t remember that much,” Rush said evasively as he brushed his thumb over her knuckles.  “The few times I was conscious, they were probing my mind.”  He looked down, his face haunted.  “It’s something I’d rather not think about, really.  I know they were frustrated.  I seemed to be able to resist giving them the information they wanted.”

 

Chloe stared at Rush, admiration clearly evident on her pale features.  Apparently they’d turned a corner in their relationship.  She no longer viewed him as a self-serving bastard, but more as someone she could put her trust in now that he’d saved her.  If he was really as unfeeling as she’d believed, he wouldn’t have risked the time and effort to free her from their captors.  “He used their own neural interface against them, getting what he needed so we could escape.”

 

“The location of the fighter bay, basic operating systems…” Rush added.

 

Belle scooted closer to him now that he’d finished eating and rested her cheek against his shoulder.  “He’s our hero,” she said, not a hint of teasing in her tone.  Nevertheless, he snorted.

 

“Did you find out anything else- like why they wanted to destroy us?”  Eli asked, still bristling at the way Chloe was casting doe eyes at the scientist.

 

Rush shrugged.  “I don’t think they _did_ want to destroy us.  What they really want is Destiny.  Probably only care about us because we recently came aboard.  No- what they want is a way past her defenses, try and find out what secrets she might hold.”  He cleared his throat and took another sip of his tea.  “Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to find out any more.  My first priority was getting the three of us off the ship.”

 

Chloe smiled gratefully at him and he shifted uncomfortably.  He wasn’t used to sweet smiles from pretty girls aside from his Belle.  That would take some getting used to.

 

“Well, it’s good to have you back,” Volker said, voicing the sentiments of all those gathered at the table. 

 

“All of you,” Eli added, smiling down at Belle.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Rush paused in the hallway outside of Young’s quarters and brushed a stray curl away from Belle’s brow.  “Why don’t you wait for me here, love?  You don’t need to be a part of this.”

 

“Oh I’m sorry, Nicholas.  I forgot that you went through this entire ordeal by yourself while I remained behind on Destiny to grieve your loss,” she snarked in a dry tone as she untwined her fingers from his and crossed her arms stubbornly over her chest.  “If you think for one minute that I’ll stand idly by while you face him, you’ve got another think coming.”

 

He tilted his head back and released a long suffering sigh.  “Well, I had to try, didn’t I?”  He stepped away from her and knocked on the colonel’s door.

 

It didn’t take Young long to answer, the door whooshing open.  Everett looked resigned.

 

“So…” Rush said, spreading his hands at his sides as he waited for the man to invite him inside.

 

Belle didn’t wait, however, glaring at Young as she pushed past him into the room.  She perched on the edge of his desk, her feet dangling inches off the floor and her hands fisted in her lap to keep her from slapping his arrogant face.  She’d love to see the bastard hanging from his fingertips in the dungeon of the Dark Castle.  She wouldn’t have even complained about scrubbing the blood from Rumpelstiltskin’s aprons, she thought derisively as her eyes narrowed on the man.

 

“So…” the colonel returned, at a loss for what to say.  He stood aside and ushered Rush into the room.

 

Rush sauntered into the room and strolled over to the mirror Young had mounted on the wall, surveying his reflection.  “I suppose you’re wondering why I didn’t tell everyone the truth.”

 

“It’s your word against mine.  I didn’t tell anyone you tried to frame me for Spencer’s death,” Young said, shoving his hands into his pockets and rocking back on his heels.

 

“I beg to differ,” Belle hissed, her eyes cold shards of ice as she regarded him.  “I’ll happily give General O’Neil an accurate accounting of your deplorable actions, Everett.”  She didn’t even give him the respect of using his title.

 

Rush smirked at her threat but gave a slight shake of his head as he rested a hip against the low cabinet against the wall.  “Well, that’s true.  You could have told the crew what I’d done.”

 

“I’m rather surprised he didn’t,” Belle murmured.  “I wonder why that is…not that it would explain why you left a valuable member of your crew off world to die a slow death,” she said, focusing the last of her statement on the colonel.

 

Young gnashed his teeth.  “I did try to get you to return to the ship, Miss French.”

 

“Seriously?” she asked, glaring at him contemptuously.  “As if I would leave Nicholas there alone.  You might have such little regard for human life, but I assure you I do not.”

 

Rush sighed when Young’s gaze slid back to his.  “So, the question is now whether I can assume that you _are_ going to try to kill me again next chance you get.”

 

Young sat down on the sofa and rested his forearms on his knees, trying to remain calm.  “I saved you from those aliens.”

 

“You fired on that alien ship when you knew I was still aboard,” Nicholas countered, his eyes cold, his voice sinisterly low.

 

“Well, so was Chloe.  It was a command decision, protecting the greater good.”

 

Belle slipped off the desk and made her way to stand beside Rush.  “Was it also a _command decision_ to put the ship at risk by overloading the weapons system?” she asked, her lips curling in one corner into a smug smile.  Surprise lit his face at her uncanny ability to learn intel from anyone and everyone she came in contact with.  “Did you really risk it in the hopes Nicholas wouldn’t make it back? To kill some eighty odd members of this crew to save your own ass?”

 

“Belle…” Rush sighed, fighting the smile that wished to bloom on his face at her cheek.

 

She shrugged noncommittally.  “It’s true, Nicholas.  I’m just the only one in the room not afraid to get to the heart of the matter and call him on it.”

 

Nicholas turned back to Young.  “Look, I realize that I did provoke you.”

 

“Well, if it means anything, I regret leaving you on that planet.  Don’t get me wrong…I think you deserved it, but I regret that I lost control, that I became a man I couldn’t respect anymore.”

 

Rush shrugged.  “Well, you’re here, I’m here.  We just have to live with it, don’t we?”

 

“So does everyone else on board.  They don’t need the distraction.  They don’t need to doubt their leadership, and this ship needs to be ready for the next encounter.”

 

Belle’s eyes narrowed.  “If we’d been left to do our work without your bloody interference, the ship would have probably been ready for this one.”

 

Rush’s brows rose to disappear beneath his fringe of hair.  He was really going to have to speak with Belle about her tendency to shred her adversaries with her acerbic tongue.  Although entertaining, sometimes it was unnecessary.  She was outspoken where he was sneaky, but he was sure she’d learn in time.  Rush nodded and strolled towards the door, linking his fingers with Belle’s once again and pulling her along behind him.  Young rose to his feet and followed, pressing the door release.

 

Young cast him a pointed look.  “If we haven’t found a way home by then.”

 

“Of course,” Rush agreed.

 

Young glanced warily at the pair.  “So, what?  We just pretend nothing ever happened?”

 

Rush snorted.  “Well, it’s not like we were ever friends.”

 

Belle rolled her eyes and left the room, deciding it would be better to leave before she did something she’d regret, but she didn’t go so far as to not be able to keep her discerning eye on the colonel where he stood next to the open door.

 

“For the sake of the crew,” Young murmured, feeling as though they’d come to an accord.

 

“For the sake of the crew,” Nicholas agreed as he turned to leave.  He paused momentarily, turning back to face Young.  “By the way,” he said, pointing an index finger and moving it in a circular motion to indicate his face.  “The raccoon eyes…it’s a good look for you.”

 

Young’s hand rose to touch the tape that still covered his nose from the lucky shot Belle had gotten in on the planet.  Her laughter echoed down the corridor as she and Rush made their way back to the control room.  Well, maybe not such a lucky shot, Young regretfully admitted to himself.  The bruising was so extensive, there was no way she hadn’t known exactly what she was doing.  He sighed and closed the door, wondering how long it would be before she was ready to hit him again.  And he was sure it would be with a heavy blunt object rather than her elbow.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle sighed happily as she sampled a few of the grape tomatoes the hydroponics team had finally harvested in the lab.  She’d convinced Nicholas to come with her to the lab, wanting to surround herself with the fresh greenery that abounded there.  It soothed the raw edges of her nerves.

 

He wrapped his arms about her waist as he pressed in against her back, his nose nuzzling against the soft curve of her neck.  “We need to get back to work soon, _mo chroí_ ,” he murmured, relishing the feeling of her in his arms.  “Unless you’d rather retire.  There’s no telling what state the ship has fallen into in our absence.”

 

She sighed, popping another of the tomatoes into her mouth.  The texture was a bit odd, but not at all unpleasant.  Now if she only had a loaf of bread and a pound of bacon she’d be able to make a BLT.  The thought made her smile wistfully.  “No, I don’t want to retire.  I don’t think I could rest without thinking…”

 

His expression darkened as he felt the tremor trip through her.  “I’m here, love.  You’re safe.”

 

“I know,” she said, her hand rising to pet his shaggy hair as it brushed her cheek.  “I love you,” she whispered, feeling the need to say it.  Every moment she spent with him was precious, especially after what they’d gone through.  She would never withhold her feelings from him again.

 

“I love you, too, _mo stór_.” He pressed a feather light kiss to her neck as the door to the lab whooshed open to admit Camille.

 

Belle slipped out of his arms as the woman approached.  “Camille,” she said, acknowledging the woman.

 

“Belle, Nicholas,” she said with a nod.  “It’s good to have you back.”

 

“Get to the point, Camille,” Rush said, toying with the leaves of one of the plants.

 

Camille sighed.  “The colonel’s dangerous.”

 

“Oh, you think?” Belle scoffed.

 

“We need to do something about that,” Camille said, keeping her voice low as if she were afraid to be overheard.

 

“I tried,” Rush snapped, glowering at the woman.  “He damn near killed me for it.”

 

Camille inched closer to him and gave him a pointed look, her face set with steely determination.  “Next time will be different.”

 

Belle’s lips curled into a smirk of satisfaction as she felt a surge of newfound respect for the woman.  “What did you have in mind?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Yay? Nay? What did you think? Did you like the twist I put on it? I really wanted it to be different from Desolation (my o/s in case you haven’t read it) so I thought why the hell not? Would really love to hear your thoughts on this chapter. This is the one that really made me want to start writing this fic. I can’t believe we’re already halfway through the first season. GUH!!! Anyway, thank you all so much for reading and kudoing and commenting and … well you get my drift (o:


	12. Divided

“Fine!” Chloe hissed as she pulled on a pair of yoga pants and a tank top and stormed over to the door to slam her hand on the release button.

 

“Chloe, wait.  Don’t be like that.  I want to help you!” Scott called after her.

 

“Don’t sweat it, Matt.  I just need to clear my head,” she offered lamely, but it didn’t stop her from leaving the quarters she shared with him.

 

He couldn’t understand what she’d gone through at the hands of her alien captors, nor could he hope to comprehend the bone-chilling terror that assailed her when her mind relaxed and her subconscious was given free reign.  It was always the same nightmare…her capture from Destiny, her fear as she was brought aboard the Nakai’s ship and the end of all hope as she was thrust into the tank.  And that was only the parts she could remember.  What else had they done to her whilst in their hands?  That thought was what scared her the most.

 

Her bare feet carried her down one familiar corridor after another as she tried to push the images of the nightmare away, but they wouldn’t release her from their caustic grip.  No one could understand the horror she’d experienced or the sheer helplessness of having her free will taken away.  She couldn’t help but wonder if she’d ever be able to close her eyes again without see the Nakai’s electric blue eyes or hear the unnatural trilling screech they emitted.

 

It shouldn’t have come as such a surprise to find herself standing outside of Belle’s quarters in the middle of the night.  The bond of friendship she shared with the other woman had only strengthened in the last three days.  Had it only been three days since Dr. Rush had freed them and brought them back to Destiny?  It seemed like a lifetime.  Yet she found herself seeking out Belle’s companionship more and more.  She lifted her hand, hesitating only a moment before letting it fall against the metal door in a sharp staccato.

 

But it wasn’t Belle who answered her summons, but Rush, his hair tousled from sleep and wearing only a pair of black cotton sleeping pants slung low on his hips.  She averted her eyes, the light blush rising to her cheeks standing out in the stark white of her face.

 

“Chloe?” he asked, his brows drawn in a puzzled frown as he yawned.

 

Her fingers twisted in nervousness as she lifted her big blue eyes to meet his.  “Is Belle asleep?”

 

“Nicholas, who is it?” the woman in question called from the darkened room, only the faint blue glow of the FTL lights offering illumination.

 

He ushered the girl into their quarters and palmed the door release to close it behind her.  “It’s Chloe.  Apparently, she’s having trouble sleeping as well.”  He glanced between the two as Belle sat up amidst the rumpled sheets and sought the girl out with a concerned frown.  “Shall I go fetch some tea?”

 

“No, come back to bed,” Belle said, patting the warm space on her left.  “You too, Chloe.  Come lie next to me and tell me what’s wrong.”

 

Chloe hastened across the room, grateful for the invitation and the warm comfort of her friend’s embrace.  She could talk to Belle and she knew the brunette wouldn’t judge her or condemn her for the helplessness she felt when her dreams intruded upon her rest, because she knew the same fear.  “You’re sure?” she asked as she watched Rush crawl back under the duvet and spoon up behind Belle, his eyes closing as he pressed his face into her neck.

 

“Of course,” Belle answered, a warm smile curving her lips.  The mattress dipped slightly as Chloe climbed onto the bed and laid down facing her friend.  “Same dream?” she asked as she wrapped her arms about Chloe and pulled her head to rest against her shoulder.

 

Chloe sighed as she wrapped her arm around Belle’s waist above the one Rush had slung over her hip.  The weight of her fears were already easing from her shoulders.  “Yeah, the same one,” she confirmed, her eyes closing as Belle stroked a soothing hand over her hair.

 

“You’re not alone, Chloe.  We’re here for you if you need us,” Rush murmured sleepily, his voice muffled against Belle’s nape.  He was happy the girl had laid aside her grudge against him and grown closer to Belle.  They were good for each other.  He just wished it hadn’t taken such a drastic misadventure to accomplish such a feat.

 

“Lt Scott not being understanding tonight?” Belle asked as she rubbed soothing circles over her friend’s back in an effort to soothe her. 

 

The girl shook her head.  “He doesn’t understand.  He thinks now that I’m safely back aboard Destiny that I should just get over it.  He thinks I’m being overly dramatic.”

 

Belle sighed wearily and rolled her eyes behind her closed lids.  “Don’t be too hard on him, Chloe.  It’s not that he’s trying to be insensitive to your needs, but rather that he’s been trained to be the perfect soldier.  I’m sure he sees these nightmares as a weakness and he just cannot comprehend what they’re doing to you because he doesn’t have anything to compare it to.”

 

Chloe smiled, the gesture swallowed up by the darkness.  “You’re not much older than I am, Belle.  How did you get to be so wise?”

 

Belle inwardly cringed.  _Oh, darling, if you only knew how much older I was than you._   “I experienced something similar and was plagued with nightmares.  As much as my love tried to soothe me, he never fully understood.  He’d been in a similar predicament but he actually _wanted_ to be there whereas I had no choice.  Thankfully, I had a great therapist who helped us through it and I got better.  Just as you will.  But it’s going to take time to heal…for all of us.” 

 

She smiled as Nicholas gently squeezed her hip and placed a light kiss to her nape as silence fell between them.

 

“What did they do to us?” Chloe asked after a while as she trembled anew.

 

He pulled the duvet up over both the girls and tucked it around Chloe’s shoulder.  “I don’t remember everything.”

 

Belle nodded.  “Neither do I, but what I do remember I wish I could forget.”  She yawned, the lack of sleep she’d been experiencing finally catching up with her as she melted back into Nicholas’s embrace.

 

“I don’t either,” Chloe admitted.  “Maybe that’s a good thing.”

 

Belle rested her cheek against Chloe’s brow and grimaced.  “Everyone thinks we’re safe.  They think that they’ll never find us again.”

 

“We’re not safe, are we?” Chloe murmured.

 

“No,” Rush said reluctantly.  “No, we’re not.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Rush dragged himself down the corridor, bleary-eyed and irritated that he’d overslept.  He should be grateful that he’d slept at all.  Between Belle’s constant waking from her nightmares and of course his own, sleep was an elusive commodity of late.  However, having been cozily ensconced between him and Chloe must have given her enough added security to finally find peace in sleep. 

 

And that was another thing that bothered him.  Chloe.  It was just strange waking up and finding another person in bed with them.  He was jealous, he admitted ruefully as he stroked a hand over the ache in the back of his neck.  He knew they were just friends, and that they shared a common trauma which had bonded them rather closely, but he was used to having Belle all to himself.  He wasn’t quite adept at handling his girl going to someone else for comfort.  Yet, how could he begrudge her if she’d found it?  He couldn’t…not without coming off as a heinous asshole.

 

He had to wonder what the hell was wrong with Chloe’s little soldier boy that he could be so insensitive to her needs.  Was he merely toying with the girl so he had a convenient roll in the hay whenever he wanted it?  From what he’d heard, Lt James would be more than amenable to that role.  Chloe wasn’t the type of girl who wouldn’t put her whole heart into a relationship.  She needed more than what Scott seemed willing to share with her, or she would ultimately end up with a broken heart.  He came to an abrupt halt in the middle of the deserted corridor, a frown wrinkling his brow.  Since when did he care for anyone other than himself or Belle?  Oh, this wasn’t good, he inwardly groaned.  Belle was making him soft, making him feel things he would rather not.  And just how the bloody hell was this any of his business?!

 

Rush’s mood only worsened as he continued to stalk down the corridor towards the colonel’s quarters and nearly collided with Scott.  “Dr. Rush…”

 

“What is it? I’m busy,” he practically snarled at the man.

 

Scott looked taken aback by the scientist’s acerbic tone, but brushed it off as Rush being Rush.  “Have you by any chance seen Chloe this morning?  She had a nightmare last night and said she was going to take a walk to clear her head, but she never came back and why the hell am I telling you all this?” he asked, more to himself than Rush.

 

Nicholas stopped abruptly and turned to face the lieutenant.  “That’s an excellent question, Lieutenant, but here’s a better one…why did Miss Armstrong feel the need to wander Destiny’s corridors in the middle of the night instead of seeking comfort from the man who claims to love her?” he asked, his tone deathly quiet and filled with accusation.

 

“Um…” Scott hedged, at a loss for something to say that could defend his actions.  “It’s complicated and I don’t see how my relationship with Chloe is your business.”

 

Rush emitted a dry mirthless laugh that left the lieutenant shifting uncomfortably.  “It is most certainly my business when your girlfriend crawls into bed with me and Belle in the middle of the night seeking help and understanding from a situation that has traumatized her.  Because, apparently, you,” he hissed, poking Scott in the center of his chest with one long finger, “told her to _get over it_.”

 

“What?!”

 

Rush arched a brow at him, but regained a firm control on his temper before he could crush the boy more than he already had.  “Miss Armstrong is with Belle now.  They were still sleeping when I left my quarters.  Frankly, it’s the longest Belle has slept in days and I warn you now, Lieutenant.  Do _not_ disturb them.”  Scott turned to leave, but Rush held him back again with a hand on his arm.  “Oh, and a word of advice…”

 

“Yeah?” Scott asked, his cheeks aflame at being called on the carpet by the older man.  It rankled him that Rush seemed to be only too happy to share his opinion this morning.

 

“Miss Armstrong has had more than her fair share of tragedy since she boarded Destiny.  If she’s anything like my Belle…which I believe she is…she needs patience, comfort and understanding.  If you’re not capable of providing that for her, don’t expect to keep her heart for very long.”

 

He left the boy standing there with his mouth agape and continued on towards the colonel’s quarters.  Yes, he was definitely losing it.  What had possessed him to give relationship advice to Scott of all people?  He took a deep breath to rid himself of the last of his anger, knowing he was going to need to keep a cool head if he were to have a civil conversation with the man.

 

“Colonel Young, we need to talk,” Rush said as he strode into the open door to find Everett sitting behind his desk, no doubt going over the current duty roster.

 

Everett set his paperwork aside and leaned forward on his elbows, meeting Rush’s steely gaze with one of his own.  “I was thinking the same thing.”

 

Nicholas stopped before the desk and raised a dubious brow.  “Were you, now?”

 

“The communication stones.”

 

Rush shrugged.  “What about them?”

 

Young rose from his chair and rounded the desk, coming around to perch a hip against the cool surface as he faced his adversary.  “You took one,” he accused.  “It’s the only explanation.  You were the first to open the box; you kept one for yourself.”

 

“And why would I do that?”

 

Everett crossed his arms over his chest as he leveled the man with his piercing gaze.  “Maybe you thought it was some kind of insurance policy.  I don’t know.  You probably thought it wasn’t safe to keep in your room, especially after that whole incident with Spencer’s gun, so you kept one with you.” 

 

Rush gnashed his teeth together and lowered his eyes to the floor guiltily, amazed that the colonel had the mental capacity to have figured it out for himself.

 

“That’s how the aliens got ahold of one,” the colonel continued, “and that’s how I wound up on that ship.”

 

Nicholas lifted his gaze from the floor and shrugged.  “Oh well.”

 

“That doesn’t sound like a denial, Rush,” the colonel said, raising his brows in surprise.

 

Rush couldn’t have cared less for the colonel’s verbal chess match, however, and decided to get right to the point of his visit.  It didn’t matter how the aliens had come into possession of one of the communication stones.  The man was spot on in his assessment, but he couldn’t find it in himself to be sorry.  Without his scheming, he, Chloe and Belle would no doubt still be captives of the Nakai.  “What we should _really_ be worried about is how they found us in the first place.”

 

“Well, _I_ figure they tracked a signal from the stone.”

 

Rush held up a hand, clearly losing his patience.  “We don’t even know how that signal works.”

 

“Maybe they’re smarter than us,” the colonel offered.

 

“Well, they’re advanced, sure,” Rush scoffed, “but not as advanced as the Ancients.  I suspect it’s something much simpler.”

 

“Like what?” Young asked dubiously.

 

“A sub-space tracking device.”

 

Everett frowned, his brows drawing together into one dark line.  “We took care of the ship you brought over.”

 

Rush’s shoulders stiffened, tension radiating from his body as the time lengthened.  They had dropped out of FTL and every second they delayed meant the Nakai could be one step closer to finding them.  “Yeah, but there may be another one attached to the outside of the hull.”

 

“Wait a minute,” Everett said, holding up a hand.  “Where is this coming from?” 

 

Nicholas sighed wearily, hating the fact that he had to confide any part of his imprisonment in the man who’d tried to kill him.  It went against everything he believed, but he had no choice if they were to rid themselves of a way for the aliens to track Destiny.  “I was in direct neural contact with one of the aliens for quite some time.  So was Belle.  We’ve been having flashes…images.”

 

“Of what?”

 

Rush shook his head, a haunted look gleaming in his sable eyes. 

 

“You don’t know?” Young asked, not used to the scientist being unsure of _anything_ …ever.  The man usually didn’t open his mouth unless he had an explanation.

 

“No, I _don’t_ know,” he hissed caustically, “but what I _do_ know is they’ve been tracking this ship for some time- long, long before we got here.  For them Destiny’s something like an obsession.”

 

Young cast him a look that clearly said Rush should know how the aliens felt when he himself had his own obsession with the ship, but he kept his comments to himself, more concerned with the doctor’s flashes of memory.  “You say you and Belle have been having these flashes.  Is it something I should be concerned about?”

 

“No, Colonel,” Nicholas said, looking down at the whitening knuckles of his clasped hands.

 

“And Chloe?  Is she having _flashes_ as well?” Everett asked, studying the tight lines that appeared around Rush’s eyes and mouth.

 

“No, she’s not.  I’ve spoken to her and she seems to be suffering nightmares of being in the observation tank, but nothing similar to what we’re experiencing.  But then, Belle and I were with them a lot longer than she was.”  He pushed away the fear of the Nakai, that seemed to be his constant companion of late and squared his shoulders with determination.  “Look, we’re out of FTL- will be for several hours.  Now’s the perfect time to take a look.”

 

He didn’t give the colonel time to brush off his concerns, turning on his heel to leave.  He was going to do it with or without the man’s authority whether Young liked it or not.  This was to protect everyone on board, not just to allay his own fears.  It was for the greater good after all.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Eli sent a Kino out of one of the holes made by the Nakai shuttles, dialing back the tensile strength on the shields to allow it to pass freely through the protective barrier.  Young had abandoned them for parts unknown, confident that Eli would keep him informed of the search.  Rush leaned against the door jamb in Eli’s quarters and tried to stifle a yawn as he rubbed at the ache in his nape, wishing fervently that he could catch an hour or two of sleep.  The strain was wearing on him.

 

Soft, gentle fingers replaced his own and he couldn’t quell the moan that sounded low in the back of his throat at her touch.  “Belle…”

 

She giggled, the teasing lilt of her laughter warming him from the inside out.  “Why didn’t you wake me when you got up this morning?”

 

“Because apparently he thought we should be lazy this morning,” Chloe replied as she slipped around them to sit beside Eli at his console.

 

Belle ducked under his arm and nestled into his side.  “I could have been working instead of staying abed all morning,” she admonished gently.  Her warm breath ghosted over his ear as she leaned closer to whisper.  “Did you sleep as well?  I know you’ve not been resting any more than I have since we returned to Destiny.”

 

Her distress tore at his heart and it saddened him to know he was the cause.  “I did, actually.  I was late for my shift because of it,” he murmured as he pressed his lips to her brow.  It wasn’t a lie.  He had been able to sleep without the discomfort of her tossing and turning and for once his nightmares hadn’t woken him.  He felt some of the tension ease from his body as she relaxed against him.  He knew they were both strong enough to overcome their trauma.  It would simply take time.

 

“So,” she said, arching a brow in the direction of the console.  “What are we doing today?”

 

Eli yawned, the gesture cut short when Chloe nudged him in the ribs.  “Um…Dr. Rush thought there might be another of those shuttles attached to the hull, so we’ve sent out a Kino to do a search.  So far we haven’t found anything.”  He yawned again, unable to help himself.  “It’s a waste of time if you ask me,” he grumbled.

 

Chloe cast him an indulgent smile.  “Then let’s be thankful no one asked you.”

 

Rush huffed a short laugh and left the two friends to bicker playfully where they sat at the console as he led Belle out into the circular common room that adjoined Eli’s quarters.  He pulled her into a deep lingering kiss that left her breathless, needing to taste her, to feel her hands tangled in his hair and her soft curves pressed into him.  Since their ordeal, every moment spent apart from her seemed like a lifetime and it had been one hell of a long morning.

 

“How are you feeling, _mo chroí_?” he asked when he finally drew away from her sweet mouth to press his brow to hers.

 

“I’m well, Nicholas,” she assured him.  “Just a bit anxious.  I need something to do, and I’m not certain where I’m needed most this morning.”  She glanced up at him, a sheepish grin on her face and color blooming hotly in her cheeks.  “I’d rather spend my time with you…if you have some task for me?”

 

“Actually, I do, though it will not be with me,” he sighed.  “Do you remember the conversation we had with Camille last night over dinner in her quarters?”

 

Belle bit her lip thoughtfully, her eyes brightening.  “I do.”

 

“Are you up to a bit of exploring?  We will need a space suitable for our purposes and we need to make haste.  I don’t know how long we might have before the Nakai find us again, Belle.”  He didn’t need to explain to her the itch that crawled beneath his skin alerting him to the danger they all faced.

 

She nodded and patted the radio- a new one she’d secured shortly after she’d re-boarded Destiny- clipped to the waistband of her jeans.  “Check in with me if you find something in your search?”

 

“I will.  You do the same.”  He kissed her again and held onto her hand, their arms stretching between them until he was forced to let go.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

“So the Kino located another Nakai shuttle?” Belle asked, hugging herself tightly as she couldn’t forestall the tremor that wracked her slight frame.  Of course he noticed, his arm slipping about her waist and pulling her firmly against his side as he shined the beam of the flashlight around the abandoned corridor.

 

“Yes, it was on the underside of the hull.  Colonel Young and Lt. Scott have taken the shuttle out to see if they can’t remove it,” he said as Belle reached out to depress the door release on the wall next to two large double doors.

 

“Too bad that’s not the one we have to worry about,” Belle mumbled almost inaudibly beneath her breath as she stepped into the room.

 

Camille, who’d accompanied them, gave her a searching look.  “What do you mean by that, Belle?”

 

Rush shot Belle a warning look and ignored the question, choosing instead to inspect the room his little assistant had been good enough to locate for them.  “What is this place?” he asked, activating the panels on the walls before flipping the switch on the console.

 

Belle moved to the secondary console and turned it on as she settled onto her stool.  “Well,” she said, gesturing about the dimly lit room.  “As far as I can tell, it’s some kind of Ancient research lab.  Not exactly ideal for our purposes, but the level of connectivity of the ship’s main systems should be adequate.  Don’t you think, Nicholas?  You weren’t specific when you set this task.”

 

Rush smiled warmly as he caught her gaze.  “It’ll do nicely, I think.”

 

She beamed at him, a rosy blush settling in her cheeks as she reveled in his praise.  “We can begin the transfer whenever you wish.”

 

Camille paled.  “Do we have to do it _now_?”

 

Rush scowled at the woman.  “This was your idea, Camille.  I’d think you’d not want to waste any time,” he said with a small shake of his head.  “We’ll never get a better opportunity.”

 

“He’s right,” Belle encouraged.  She had her own reasons for haste, though none she was willing to share with the IOA representative.  She didn’t trust the woman.  She was sure she wouldn’t run off to Young and spill her secrets, but she still wasn’t willing to risk it.  “We need to get our people in position now while the colonel is distracted.”

 

Camille nodded, her dark eyes troubled, but she heeded their advice and hurried away to alert the civilians who had come over to their side in the bid for power.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

“What is all this, _mo stór_?” Rush queried, stepping up behind her as Belle surveyed the Kino footage on the screens mounted into the wall behind her console.  She worked furiously with the remote in her hands as she chewed on the pencil clamped between her teeth.  He smiled wryly.  He knew she wasn’t taking well to the loss of her Jolly Ranchers.  She’d cried for a good hour after the last one had dissolved on her tongue.

 

Belle took the pencil from between her teeth and pointed at the first screen.  “I had Brody hide Kinos in several key locations about the ship so we can keep an eye on things while this goes down,” she explained.  “The mess, gate room, neural chair interface room, communications lab, hydroponics and a few others will be on our side of the line. The control room and everything forward of the dome will be theirs and I want it under surveillance so we can keep abreast of the colonel’s plans.”

 

“Big brother is watching,” he whispered ominously.  Rush studied the screens curiously.  Brody and Volker had hydroponics while Chloe stood next to Eli in the control room.  She’d elected to keep him distracted from Rush’s console so he wouldn’t notice the transfer process.  Camille had most of the other civilians gathered in the mess to wait.  “This is brilliant, Belle,” he said, dropping a kiss to her temple.

 

“How’s the transfer coming?”

 

He moved to the console and grimaced.  “Slowly, but it shouldn’t take much longer.”

 

“Damnit!” Belle hissed as she reached for her radio.  His head snapped up, a frown building between his brows.  “Brody,” she barked as she pressed the com button.

 

“Go ahead.”

 

“It seems we have a problem,” she said, glaring at TJ’s image on the screen as the medic entered the hydroponics lab.  “Try to get rid of her.  I don’t want her trapped on this side of the line.  I’m going to have enough to deal with when she discovers my part in this folly.”

 

“I’ll see what I can do.  Brody out.”

 

Belle sighed as she clipped the radio to her waist once more.  She moved to Rush’s console and sat on the stool next to him as he scooted over a bit to afford her some room.  He slipped a comforting arm about her shoulders and pulled her close.  “We always knew we wouldn’t be able to keep them all out, Belle.  Someone was bound to be caught on this side.”

 

“She’s going to be so angry with me.  She’s my friend, Nicholas,” she said, her shoulders drooping dejectedly.  He remained silent, letting her weigh her options in peace.  Hopefully, TJ would be able to forgive her in time.  But when it came to choosing between her friend and the man she loved, the choice was fairly easy, she thought bemusedly.  She wouldn’t sacrifice him for anything.  If they were going to do this, it would be together.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Young brought the shuttle back to its dock and set her down gently.  Their short mission had been successful and the Nakai shuttle had been safely removed from Destiny without compromising the integrity of the hull.  He rubbed his brow as he addressed Eli through the com link.  “Docking procedure,” he said with a sigh, a testament to his weariness.  He wished for nothing more than to retire to his quarters and get some much needed sleep.  The strain between him and Rush was beginning to take its toll on him.

 

He unclasped his seatbelt as Scott shot him a look of alarm.  “Um…sir?  I’m reading a negative on the docking clamps.”

 

“Reset,” Young commanded, knowing the computer should then let the clamps engage.

 

Scott shifted nervously.  “Still a negative, sir,” he said as his console beeped.

 

Young’s brow furrowed as he pressed the button to activate the com link.  “Eli, we’ve got a problem.  The docking clamps will not engage.”

 

In the control room, Eli shook his head, his face contorting in disbelief.  “What? That’s impossible.  Hang on.”  He entered several keystrokes on his console to manually engage the docking clamps only to receive a beep and an error message.  After his second attempt, he received the same message and couldn’t understand why the controls wouldn’t respond to the sequence.  He hurried over to another console and tried again, but still the clamps refused to secure the shuttle to Destiny’s dock.

 

Chloe walked around the room, keeping him in her line of sight as she stepped up to Rush’s console.  Data, streams of text, formulas, algorithms and a multitude of things she didn’t understand flew past as the transfer continued.  “Um…Eli,” she called softly as he steadily tried to find a way around the error preventing the clamps from engaging.

 

Finally he made his way to her side and stared blankly at Rush’s screen.  “What the hell is this?!” he shrieked, entering several commands only to be confronted with the infernal beeping he was beginning to despise.  “I’m locked out

 

“What do you mean, you’re locked out?” Young blustered over the link.

 

“It means I’m locked out!  Someone’s transferring controls to another station.  I-I…I’ve got nothing.”  He doubled his efforts to break through the decryption Rush had installed on the data transfer to no avail.

 

Young’s voice came over the link again, this time with a worse problem.  “Eli, we jump into FTL in about eight minutes.  What happens if the ship’s not locked down?  Because the shuttle door doesn’t want to open now.”

 

Frustrated, Eli raked a hand through his dark hair, trying to come up with a solution.  “The—the shield won’t envelop the shuttle.  The shuttle wouldn’t go into FTL with the rest of the ship,” he said, fighting the rising panic threatening to choke him.  “I’m not sure…so don’t hold me to this…but I think the shuttle would be vaporized.”

 

He could hear the colonel’s softly uttered curses over the link.  “We have seven minutes, Eli.  Let’s think this through.  You said somebody was transferring controls?”

 

“Yeah, that’s what it looks like from here.”

 

“Well, can you do something about it?” the colonel asked, trying to maintain calm so the boy wouldn’t panic.  He needed Eli to have a clear head if they were to resolve this issue without fiery death and incineration being the end result.

 

“Uh, uh, if—if I…” Eli stammered, tapping his fingers against his chin as he wracked his brain.

 

Chloe slipped from the control room without Eli’s notice and sprinted for the lab where Rush had set up shop.  She pushed her quaking limbs to the limit, her lungs burning, one clear purpose in mind…to stop him before anyone got hurt.

 

On the shuttle, Young paced back and forth along the aisle between the bay doors and the cockpit.  “I’ll bet you a buck,” he snarled at Scott, who nodded in agreement.  He lifted the radio from his belt.  “Rush, this is Young, over.”

 

“Five minutes, sir,” Scott said nervously, breaking the silence.

 

When Everett received no answer from the doctor, he switched channels on the radio and clicked the com button.  “Greer, this is Colonel Young.  Take a detail and find Rush… _now_.”

 

Chloe raced into the research lab and nearly collided with the front of Rush’s console as she fought to catch her breath enough to make herself understood.  “Stop it!  Stop it now!”

 

His tone was calm though a bit patronizing as he turned away from his work to glance up at her.  “Chloe, we’ve talked about this.”

 

She shook her head.  “The shuttle docking clamps won’t engage.  You _have_ to stop.”

 

Belle eyes widened in alarm.  “Chloe, we can’t just stop in the middle of the transfer.  Are you sure?”

 

“Yes,” the girl cried.  “They’re going to die!  Please.”

 

“Damnit!” Rush snarled, seeing his grand scheme falling apart before his eyes.  He stared at her, indecision warring behind his eyes.  Finally, he picked up his radio.  “Eli, this is Dr. Rush, come in.”  He was relieved when the boy answered immediately.  “Now listen carefully.  I’m in the process of transferring access to the computer away from the control interface room.  There’s nothing you can do to stop that.  All you’re doing is slowing it down.  Let me complete the transfer and I’ll lock down the clamps manually.”

 

With the com link open between the control room and the shuttle, Young had heard everything.  “Don’t listen to him, Eli.  Keep doing what you’re doing,” he snapped.

 

Belle took the radio from Rush after a bit of tug of war when he didn’t want to release it.  “Eli, you’ve got to listen to Rush.  We’re in no-man’s land here.  Neither of us have control.  Now let us finish before we jump into FTL.”

 

Young gnashed his teeth together so hard he was surprised the enamel didn’t chip.  “Don’t do it, Eli.  That’s an order,” he snarled over the link.  He should have known Belle would have a hand in this.  He was going to find some way to separate those two if it was the last thing he ever did.

 

Camille chose that moment to come into the lab, having heard of what was happening over her own radio.  “What’s going on?”

 

Belle rolled her eyes.  She had accepted that they couldn’t do this without Camille’s help, but she didn’t have to like it.

 

Chloe turned to her, eyes wide with fear.  “The shuttle can’t dock and we’re about to jump.”

 

Rush sighed.  “I didn’t know the transfer would cause this to happen,” he replied, consulting his notebook to make sure he hadn’t missed anything.

 

“Shut it down,” Camille ordered.

 

Rush looked at her as if she’d taken leave of her senses.  “I don’t _have_ everything yet.  If I stop now, Eli is going to shut me out and our position _will_ be compromised,” he said, trying to reason with her.

 

Camille still looked undecided as she heard the colonel’s voice over the link as he commanded Eli to ignore Rush.  “Do not let that man take over a single system, Eli!”

 

“He’s doing it anyway!” the boy snapped.

 

Rush looked down at the console.  “The transfer is almost complete.”

 

“Nicholas,” Belle murmured, laying her hand alongside his cheek and turning his face to meet her gaze.  “You promised no one would be harmed.”  She leaned forward, her warm breath ghosting over his ear.  “I know you’re hurt and angry as you have every right to be, but, darling, this would be akin to murder.  You’re not a killer, Nicholas.  Don’t let your hate for Young turn you into one.”

 

Camille broke in.  “We could lose _everyone_ on our side.  Shut it down,” she commanded urgently.

 

Rush hesitated only a moment, trusting in Belle’s advice rather than Camille’s authority.  With a resigned sigh, he entered the necessary commands on the console to shut down the transfer.

 

Over the link, Eli whooped excitedly.  “I got it!  I got it!”  The clamps engaged and the shield enveloped the shuttle, affording the vessel its protection.  The boy slumped over the console in relief as the countdown clock beeped and the FTL drives engaged, sending them hurtling through space.

 

In the lab, Camille paced back and forth anxiously.  “So where do we stand?  How much control do we have?”

 

Rush shrugged.  “We’re about to find out.”

 

Belle caught his hand before he could begin the diagnostic, smiling proudly at him.  “You did the right thing, Nicholas.”

 

“Yeah,” he scoffed.  “Let’s just hope we don’t all come to regret it.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Rush rose from his console and moved to stand behind Belle as she watched the Kino feed, her posture vibrating with tension.  He rubbed at her shoulders, disconcerted when she didn’t relax back into his embrace.  “What is it, _mo stór_?  Talk to me,” he demanded in a gentle tone.

 

Belle chewed on her lower lip as she wrung her hands in dread.  “Tamara,” she murmured, pointing to the screen in the lower left of the nine screens displayed.  “She’s on the wrong side of the line.  Park and Brody just showed her and Airman Dunning to a holding area until this is all over.”  She glanced over her shoulder and met his gaze, her own troubled.  “She’s going to be so upset with me.”

 

He slipped his arms about her waist and pulled her back to rest against him, offering her comfort and understanding.  “It couldn’t be helped.  We knew there was a chance a few people would get caught on the wrong side.  Lt Johansen will forgive you; she considers you her friend.”

 

“Will she?”

 

Rush turned her in his arms to face him, tilting her chin up.  He could see the trepidation in her gaze and his stomach churned with apprehension.  “Belle, love, are you having second thoughts?”

 

“Second, third, fourth,” she mumbled.  She rested her hand on his chest over his heart, her thumb stroking gently against his t-shirt as she gave him a meaningful look.  “But that isn’t going to stop us.  We’re doing what is necessary, Nicholas.  We can’t let Young continue to rule over us and take the chance that he’ll do something like this again.  None of us can risk him leaving another member of the crew on some planet because we contest his will.”

 

He caught movement out of the corner of his eye as Camille came back into the room and he lowered his voice so only Belle could hear.  “You know he’d kill me if he knew.  I—“

 

She pulled him back over to the console as it beeped, the diagnostic he’d been running finally finished.  “We’re not going to let that happen.”  She glanced up at the screen again, the Kino showing that Young had returned and was badgering Eli in the control interface room.  “But, Nicholas, whether or not we have command of the ship is irrelevant if we can’t resolve this matter,” she said evasively, unsure of how sharp Camille’s hearing was. 

 

“I know,” he answered, his curtain of hair falling over his brow as he ducked his head.  The mask of confidence he wore fell away to be replaced by the insecurities and fears he hid from everyone.  It tore at her heart to see him in such a state, but there was nothing she could do for him until they had secured Destiny and were safe once more.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

“Rush,” Everett snarled into his radio.  “This is Young.  I know exactly what you’re trying to do and there is no way in hell that I’m gonna let you get away with it.”  He paced around the control interface room in a state of heightened fury that he kept carefully in check.  Eli was doing his best to establish some type of control on what had been left to them, but he knew it would never be enough. Rush was a genius in his own right, but with Belle at his side, they were nearly unstoppable.  Eli was his only saving grace.  That and the fact that the boy hadn’t gone over to their side.

 

In the lab, Rush sat at the console, his eyes narrowed on the wall of screens with their Kino footage as he watched the colonel pace about the control room.  “I’m not acting alone, Colonel.”

 

“Of course you’re not.  I’m sure Miss French even had a hand in the planning,” the colonel snapped furiously.

 

“Now, now, Colonel.  Watch how you speak about my assistant,” he warned in a low tone as his dark eyes sought out Belle as she consulted his notebook and entered more of his calculations into the computer.  She acted as though his conversation with their commander were of little importance, but he knew she was listening attentively.  “Besides, what’s done is done.  I already have the food and water supplies; plus control of all accessible systems has been transferred over to the consoles on my side of the line.”

 

Everett kept his finger away from the com button on his radio as Eli spoke up.  “That’s not entirely true.  He stopped the transfer prematurely so I could lock down the shuttle…” he gave both the colonel and Lt. Scott a pointed look. “…which saved your lives, by the way.  That left us control of one key system…life support.”

 

Belle groaned as the weak audio came across loud and clear in the lab.  “Damnit, Eli.  Just once, couldn’t you be on our side?” she hissed, stabbing mutinously at the console with the eraser on her pencil.  Rush took it from her and laid it next to the screen before she snapped it in two.

 

“Alright, Rush,” came the colonel’s voice once more over the radio.  “You’ve got our attention.  What do you want?”

 

“All military personnel to hand over their weapons immediately and submit to civilian authority,” he replied, practically singing the words as his lips curled up into a smug smile of satisfaction.

 

“Nicholas,” Belle snapped, “do you have to be so bloody condescending?!” she scolded, shaking her head.

 

He winked at her as Everett came across the device once more.  “Is that it?”

 

“Well, it does tend to be how _civilized_ people structure their societies, Colonel, be that as in nations or in microcosm.”

 

“As opposed to what?” the colonel roared.

 

“Military dictatorship.  That has to stop.”

 

“Would you stop antagonizing him?!  I know you’re getting off on having so much to hold over his head, but it’s not going to end well, Nicholas,” Belle pleaded as he sat down beside her.  “Look at them,” she cried, pointing to the bank of screens.  “They’re already plotting.”

 

The radio crackled again.  “Well, Eli tells me there might be a problem with your plan—something to do with life support.”

 

“We need to get him away from the colonel…NOW!” she sneered, raking a hand through her hair as she rose to pace the circumference of the room.

 

Rush grimaced for a long moment, before forcing a laugh as he reactivated the link.  “I was hoping he wouldn’t notice that.  Anyway, I’ve done the calculations.  We’re occupying a much larger area, therefore, we have a greater volume of air.  Plus we have the hydroponics lab producing some oxygen.”

 

Belle stopped in her pacing to give him a dubious look, silently asking if he’d just pulled that statement out of thin air…or better yet, his ass.  He shook his head infinitesimally to warn her to silence before she could voice her opinion lest the colonel hear her.

 

“Not enough to make a difference and you know it,” Young returned.

 

“If you cut us off right now, we’d have at least three days, which is around about the same amount of time you would have to go without water.  If it comes down to a contest, I’m not sure what the final outcome would be, but it wouldn’t be pretty.”

 

“Eli, tell me that’s one of yours,” Scott said, pointing to the darkened corner where Belle had hidden the Kino.

 

Young followed his gaze and stared directly into the Kino’s central eye as he marched across the room and snatched it from the air.  “Spying too.  Find them!  There’s sure to be more!”

 

“Well shit,” Belle cursed as the feed cut to black and disappeared from her screen.

 

“He’ll give in.  He’s got no choice,” Camille said from her position near the door where she’d held a silent vigil.  “We have the gate room and the communications lab.  He’s completely cut off.”

 

“Yeah, but now he’s found Belle’s little video feed.  We’re going to lose our eyes and ears on the other side,” he said, pinching the bridge of his nose to stave off some of the pressure building behind his eyes.  “And he still has the one thing that might make a difference.”

 

Belle groaned.  “Eli.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

“I think we got ‘em all,” Eli panted as he jogged into the control interface room, his arms laden down with Kinos.  He dropped them into a crate, determined to go through their memories before returning them to the dispenser where they were stored.  Scott followed him and dropped the ones he carried into it as well. 

 

“So, what’d we miss? Is there anything we can do about the situation as it stands now?” the lieutenant asked, his brows drawing together with worry as he took in the colonel’s haggard visage.

 

Young offered up a sad smile.  “They’ve offered a trade…a limited amount of food and water in exchange for Eli.”

 

Eli stared at him aghast, his dark eyes wide and disbelieving.  “Me?”

 

Young didn’t give him an opportunity to protest.  “I’ve already agreed to it.”

 

“Sir, he’s the only one who has a chance of getting us around whatever it is Rush did to those computers,” Scott argued.

 

“Yeah,” Eli snorted.  “And that’s only if Belle hasn’t gone behind him and encrypted everything.”

 

“Be that as it may,” Everett interrupted.  “I know that, and _they_ know that, and that’s why they want Eli.”  He paused a moment, staring meaningfully at his first officer.  “However…there is another way in.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Eli edged around the two civilians as they left a crate of food and water out in the corridor before sealing it behind them once more.  They paid him little attention as they completed their task and set off to rejoin Camille in the mess.  Chloe gestured for him to follow her as she proceeded down the corridor.

 

Eli eyed her suspiciously from the corner of his eye, taking note of how tense her shoulders were.  “So, here we are,” he began hesitantly.  “I can’t help but notice that you seem to be—well—working with these people.”

 

Chloe snorted a light laugh, the sound echoing in the deserted hallway.  “What did you think?  I was a prisoner?”

 

“I was _hoping_ the…”  He came to an abrupt halt and stared at her with wide-eyed horror.  “Wait a minute.”  Chloe stopped as well and turned to meet his gaze with a querulous one of her own.  “Back in the control room, when you came by, w-were you just trying to _distract_ me so I wouldn’t notice what Rush was doing?”

 

Chloe shook her head.  “No.  Of course not.  Look, I knew it was coming, but I didn’t know when.”

 

Eli shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket and cast her a dubious look.  She rolled her eyes in frustration and resumed her trek to the lab.  “Believe me or don’t believe me.  It doesn’t matter.”

 

“I guess I’m just a little surprised you’re taking Rush’s side against Young,” Eli murmured petulantly as he followed along after her.

 

She cut her eyes over at him.  Clearly Belle had been right about their friend and where his loyalties lay.  “Rush was an inconvenience, so Colonel Young left him on that planet to die—deliberately.  If you don’t believe me, you can ask Belle.  She was a witness to his cruelty firsthand.”

 

He didn’t want to say anything to her and take the chance of starting a fight between them.  He’d had his own suspicions as to what had really happened on the planet between Rush and the colonel, but still there was this niggling doubt in the back of his mind that wondered if Rush or even Belle had maybe lied to garner support for their side.

 

Rush and Belle had their heads together over the console when Chloe led him into the lab.  “No, Belle, look,” Rush said, tapping the tip of his pencil against the notebook they were pouring over.  “The cosign here is wrong.”

 

Belle arched a brow at him, her eyes narrowed.  “That is pencil erasures, Nicholas.”

 

“What?” he squawked, holding the notebook closer to his face.  “That’s not—“

 

Belle sighed and shone a penlight on the paper.  “See?”

 

His expression could only be termed as disgruntled as he re-read the calculations and handed her the notebook.  “Well, I lost my glasses, and—“

 

“And that’s not an excuse because you have a spare pair in our quarters,” she practically sing-songed.

 

“So, I guess I’ll leave you to it,” Chloe said, smothering a grin at the pair behind her hand as she turned to leave the room.

 

“To what?” Eli asked, his gaze sweeping the room with open curiosity before it settled on Belle.  She smiled apologetically at him and returned to her work.

 

Rush sighed.  “Once again, Eli, I find myself in need of your assistance.”

 

“More like you want to make sure he can’t offer Young his assistance,” Belle grumbled belligerently at his side.  She was still simmering over the discovery of her Kinos and the loss of her video feed.  Rush knew better than anyone how she hated being kept in the dark.

 

“So what exactly are you _doing_?” the boy asked, edging closer to their console.

 

“We’re going to squeeze every last ounce of power out of the ship’s systems and then, when we’re done, we’re going to find some more.”

 

“What for?” Eli asked, his brow drawn in a puzzled frown.  He wondered if he’d ever understand Rush and his penchant for drama.

 

Belle leveled him with a pointed look as she abandoned her work and leaned an elbow on the console.  “The shields.  We’re going to need them.”

 

“The tracking device was on that ship we blew up,” he argued.

 

“ _One_ tracking device was on that ship,” Rush murmured, briefly avoiding the younger man’s gaze.

 

Eli held up his hands in a defensive gesture, his eyes widening.  “Wait, there’s another one?”

 

Rush still wasn’t sure about telling Eli the truth, but he knew if he didn’t, the boy would be more reluctant to help him than he already was.  He shared a furtive glance with Belle and made his final decision at her encouraging nod.  “Surgically implanted in my chest, next to my heart.”

 

“Oh god!  What did they do to you?” he asked in an agonized whisper.

 

“It doesn’t matter,” Belle said softly, her large cerulean eyes pleading with him.  “We have to protect Nicholas.  Everyone else on this ship is in just as much danger as he is, but Nicholas is my first priority.  I won’t let Young harm him again.”

 

Eli turned away from them, raking a hand through his hair as he began to pace.  “This is insane!  Does anyone else know about this?”

 

Rush linked the fingers of his left hand with those of Belle’s right, silently drawing strength from her.  “Belle of course knows, and Chloe.  I had to be sure neither of them were implanted as well.”

 

“And?” the boy asked, his voice full of dread.

 

“There’s no surgical scar.”

 

“Eli,” Belle murmured.  “We’re ok.  Nicholas is ok, too.  He just has a bit of unwanted hardware.  I—“  The console beeped and she cursed, moving to the secondary console to begin dialing up the shields.  “They’re here.  They’re almost within weapons range.”

 

“Dial it up,” Rush commanded, beginning another sequence to sequester more power to bolster their shields.

 

“Wait!” Eli stammered, remembering the plan Young had confided in him before sending him across the line.  Rush stopped, his hand just above the controls.  “Maybe…maybe that’s the wrong plan.  I mean, maybe we should throw everything we have into weapons,” he suggested, trying to stall.

 

“We can’t take on three ships at once!” Rush hissed incredulously.

 

“Well, we can’t run away from them either,” the boy insisted.

 

“That’s exactly why I have to do this.  If we can survive until the next jump, they’re going to realize they can’t get past the shields and they’re going to give up,” Rush explained, hoping to make his protégé see reason.  Sometimes it was like talking to a brick wall.

 

“You don’t know that!”

 

“ _Nicholas_ ,” Belle said, slipping into Ancient, warning in her tone.  “ _He’s stalling.  Whatever it is the colonel is planning, Eli is privy to it.  Concentrate on the shields_.”

 

The scientist narrowed his eyes on the boy and gnashed his teeth, never once doubting her.  “ _I think you’re right.”_   Her instincts had yet to fail him and he wouldn’t lightly disregard her warning.  He dialed up the shields and nodded at her to continue searching for more power.

 

“Eli,” he said, addressing him with a steely tone and ignoring the way he tried to follow their rapid conversation in Ancient.  “That’s the way it’s been for a long time.  They attack, they try to get on board, and the ship’s automated defenses stop them.  They’re attacking now because they’re hoping _we’re_ going to make a mistake.  Now are you going to help us or not?”

 

Eli threw his hands up in exasperation and moved to the console, nudging Belle away as he set to work.  Destiny rocked violently as the first wave of enemy fire crashed into the shields.  Belle made her way back to Rush and sat at his left, ready to follow his commands.

 

“That’s it.  That’s all the power we’re going to get,” Eli said, leaning heavily on the console as he stared at the pair of scientists.

 

Rush studied the numbers and tried to hide his look of concern.  Belle rested her hand over his and smiled reassuringly.  “The shields are holding, Nicholas.  Trust in Destiny to see us through this.  She’s been out here for thousands of years and hasn’t perished.  We’ll be fine.”

 

Camille came hurrying into the room as more enemy fire rocked the ship.  “What’s going on?” she asked, her dark eyes wide and fearful though she tried her best to conceal it from the others.

 

Belle arched a brow at her flair for the dramatic.  “I would think that would be obvious, Camille.  Have you perchance glanced out of a porthole recently?  They’ve found us again,” she snarked before turning back to the console.

 

“How?” she asked, ignoring Belle’s coldness and addressing Rush directly.  Eli cast him a pointed look, and he returned it with a warning glance of his own.  Eli quickly filled her in regardless of Rush’s muffled curse.  “So you were surgically implanted with a tracking device?!  Is that what _this_ was all about?  You thought that if Young was in command, he’d what?  Throw you out of an airlock?”

 

Rush snorted, reaching for Belle as she leapt up from her seat to glare mutinously at the woman.  “And that’s so hard for you to believe, Camille?  He left us on a planet to die.  What makes it so hard to believe he wouldn’t try again?  It would be the simplest way to get rid of his strongest adversary _and_ dispose of the tracker at the same time.”

 

“Given my previous experience, it’s hardly an unreasonable assumption—and remember, this was your idea,” he hissed through clenched teeth, a muscle ticking ominously in his jaw.

 

“It doesn’t matter _whose_ idea it was…” Young said, finally having found a way around the barricade.  Camille whipped around and stared at the colonel as he strode into the lab, his sidearm drawn.  “…it’s over.”

 

Camille backed nervously away from him as he stabbed Eli with his piercing gaze.  “Get the weapons online.”

 

Belle positioned herself between Young and Rush, her hands on her hips as she glared at him, her gaze icy and filled with loathing.  “He can’t.  Nicholas created a separate lockout code for that system should something like this happen.”

 

“Belle’s right,” Rush replied, his jaw clenched so tightly he was surprised they didn’t grind down into powder.

 

“We’re under attack, man!  What are you waiting for?”

 

Rush shook his head.  “The best form of defense is to devote all of our power to the shields.”

 

Young gaped at him, his philosophy being shoot first and then sort through the bodies.  “Really? That’s not your decision,” Everett hissed, lifting his pistol to point at Rush’s head.  “Maybe I should just shoot you right now.”

 

“Are you going to shoot me too, Colonel?” she asked, spreading her arms wide as she blocked the path to Rush.  She knew she’d heal if she was struck thanks to her pendant, and there was no way in hell she’d let him hurt Nicholas again.  Not if she could help it.

 

Rush’s eyes widened, genuine fear in his eyes.  Not that the colonel was threatening him, but that Belle would so willingly sacrifice herself for him.  “Belle, no!”

 

Scott, TJ and Chloe rushed into the room and the lieutenant gasped.  “Colonel?” Scott asked. 

 

Young lowered his sidearm, gaining some control over his temper.  “Get him out of here.”

 

Eli stepped forward, wringing his hands nervously as he glanced between Rush and the colonel.  “Wait!  He has a transmitter implanted in his chest,” he said in a rush of barely intelligible words.

 

“Eli, no!” Rush groaned.

 

“That’s how they were able to follow us,” the boy continued, casting an apologetic glance in Belle’s direction when her gaze narrowed dangerously on him.  He looked at Rush, trying to silently convey why it was necessary to tell the colonel his secret.  “Even if we survive to the next jump, they’ll just track us again.”

 

Young nodded at TJ.  “Lieutenant, take care of it.  Cut it out of him.”

 

Belle stared at him in horror as Rush paled at the suggestion.  “Have you fully taken leave of your senses?  She can’t go digging around in his chest!”

 

“She’s not qualified for this!” Rush cried, panic rising to choke him.

 

“Then we’ll use the stones and find someone who is,” Young said matter-of-factly, his tone not inviting objections.

 

TJ laid her hand on Everett’s arm, her large blue eyes wide with trepidation.  “Colonel, we’re not equipped for this.”

 

“And you _know_ we’ve got to get that transmitter out.”

 

“Sir, I don’t recommend giving up any military personnel at this particular moment,”  Scott added.

 

“I’ll do it,” Chloe volunteered.  “I don’t need to know what I’m doing.  It won’t be me right?”

 

Rush rose from his stool, his eyes darting about the room, searching diligently for an escape route.  Belle turned her back on the colonel now that he’d holstered his pistol and caught both of Rush’s hands in hers.  Already he was trembling and there was very little she could say to soothe him at the moment.

 

“Nicholas,” she whispered softly, drawing his attention to her.  But he couldn’t focus with so many eyes upon them.  “It’s ok,” she said, cradling his face in her warm palms and pressing her brow to his.  “I’ll be there with you.  I won’t let anything happen to you.  You know we won’t be safe if you don’t let them get it out.”

 

“What if something goes wrong?” he asked, trying to concentrate on her soft voice and her touch instead of his heart which was making a valiant effort to beat out of his chest.

 

“Alright, you’ve wasted enough time.  Let’s go,” Young barked.  “Eli, see what you can do about the weapons system.”

 

Scott grabbed Rush’s arm and dragged him away from Belle who fell into step with Chloe as they all exited the lab.  Chloe’s hand trembled as she gripped Belle’s tightly. 

 

“ _Chloe_ ,” Belle whispered, her accent thickening as she slipped into Ancient.  She just hoped the girl had retained enough from their recent lessons to comprehend.  Scott and TJ wouldn’t be able to understand her, but she prayed Chloe could.  “ _When you switch with someone on Earth, you have to get to Jack_.”

 

“Jack?  General O’Neil?” she mouthed, having understood most of what Belle said.  “Why?”

 

Belle let out a huge sigh of relief that her friend had understood and hurried to explain before they reached the communications lab.  “ _He owes me a favor.  Tell him I need him.  That’s all you have to say._ ”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

“This is so not a good idea!” Nicholas hissed in a frantic whisper as TJ gave him a moment alone with Belle.

 

She wrenched the hem of his shirt out of his cold fingers and pulled it over his head, leaving him to cross his arms over his bare chest.  “It’s going to be fine, Nicholas.  I promise,” she soothed, petting his hair.  “Do you trust me?”

 

“You know I do, _mo chroí_ ,” he murmured, pulling her close as he slipped his arms about her waist.  “It’s them I don’t trust.”  He didn’t want to tell her he was terrified of going under the knife.  He was forty seven years old and had avoided doctors and hospitals his entire life.  Having dealt with them due to the cancer that had taken Gloria from him, he wanted nothing to do with them.

 

“Then trust that I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”  She pushed against his chest, urging him to lie down on the gurney.  “I’ll be here, right by your side, the entire time.”  She leaned over him so her hair provided a curtain to block the room from his view.  “Close your eyes,” she crooned, gesturing behind her for TJ to come forward to begin prepping him for surgery.

 

He tensed again as he felt the medic’s cold gloved hand gently grip his right arm.  “Belle…”

 

“It’s ok, love.  Tamara is just going to start an IV, alright?  She’s going to give you something to make you sleep.”  She brushed his hair away from his brow and pressed her lips to his, feeling some of the tension drain from his body.  “There,” she said approvingly.  “Not so bad, huh?  You could use some rest anyway.”

 

“I’d rest better if I knew someone wouldn’t be cutting into my chest!” he snarled.

 

She huffed a small laugh at his sarcasm, her warm breath fanning against his lips.  “I’ll be here when you wake up, Nicholas.”  She kissed him again.  “I love you,” she whispered, her hands smoothing over his stubbled jaw, his neck, his chest, letting her touch bring him comfort.

 

“I love y—“  His voice trailed away as the sedative began to ease him into a dreamless sleep and Belle sighed in relief as she stood up, her eyes meeting Tamara’s.

 

“He’ll be fine, Belle,” she said with a small reassuring smile.  “I gave him a dose of alien venom and it should see him through the procedure.  If not, I have a syringe here,” she pointed to the metal tray next to the one with her instruments, “ready to inject into his IV.”

 

Belle came around to the other side of the gurney and positioned herself near his head, her fingers carding through his soft hair.  “I’ll do that.  You and the doctor concentrate on getting the tracker out and I’ll tend to Nicholas should he wake early.”

 

If Young had a problem with her being there, he’d have to drag her out of the infirmary with brute force and he wouldn’t come away from the altercation unscathed, she promised herself.  She took the nasal cannula from TJ and looped it around Rush’s ears, positioning it beneath his nose so he could breathe in the oxygen fed through the tube while TJ poured alcohol onto a sterile cloth and scrubbed his chest where they’d be making the incision.

 

Scott hurried into the infirmary, Chloe in tow.  “TJ, this is Dr. Brightman.”

 

“Hi,” TJ said in greeting.

 

“Lieutenant,” she murmured in greeting, taking the gloves TJ offered.  “Thank you.  Okay.  What did you give him?”

 

“An anesthetic I made from the venom of a creature we ran into a while back.  In low does it’ll knock you out pretty good,” TJ smiled.

 

“You gave him _alien_ venom?!  Is that safe?” the doctor asked, clearly surprised.

 

“Without it, we’d all be dead right now,” Belle intoned, eyeing the woman warily.  She knew the doctor was more than qualified if she’d been sent by HWC, but she didn’t trust her as far as she could throw her.

 

TJ reached for the tray of equipment she’d prepared.  “I thought at first we were going to have to go in blind, but then Eli—he’s one of our people—came up with this.”  She handed Brightman a thin tube.  “It’s a camera—he took it out of a Kino.

 

“What’s a…” the doctor asked, bewildered.

 

“It’s like a video transmitter.”

 

Brightman held the end of the tube near her face and looked in surprise at her image staring back at her from the nearby monitor.

 

“Anyway,” the medic continued.  “We took it apart and mounted it on that so now we can go in thoracoscopically.” 

 

The ship jolted and the lights flickered momentarily as another blast of enemy fire bounced off Destiny’s shields.  “What was that?” Brightman asked, looking around in alarm.

 

Scott offered her a nervous smile.  “Uh, yeah.  We’re under attack.  But the shields are holding.  We’re good.”

 

Brightman looked around at TJ and Belle, her brows raised in stunned disbelief.  Belle snorted.  “Welcome to Destiny.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

“Alright, that’s it,” Eli reported, stepping away from the console as he turned to face the colonel.

 

“That’s it?  We’ve got weapons?” Young wanted confirmation.

 

“I found a way around the lockout, even with both Belle and Rush’s signature all over this, but I think…I think Rush might be right about this one.  If I’m reading this correctly, the shields can’t take much more.”

 

“All the more reason to shoot back.”

 

Eli barely refrained from rolling his eyes.  This wasn’t the first time he’d questioned the colonel’s command decisions, but it wasn’t enough to have him rushing off to join Belle and the lead scientist in their war against him.  Yet he was beginning to believe they might have a point when it came to their belief that Young might very well be the death of them all if he didn’t gain control over his temper.   He was still shocked that Young had purposefully left them on the planet.  “We can’t spare the power.  Weaken the shields even a little and I think they might collapse completely.”

 

The panels sparked as another volley rocked the ship.  “Well, that’s what’s gonna happen anyway, isn’t it?”

 

“Yes,” Eli agreed.  “But maybe if we’re lucky, not before we jump.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

As the bombardment continued, Belle watched closely as Dr. Brightman made an incision along the left side of Rush’s sternum, wincing as it oozed bright red blood.  He moaned softly and her eyes instantly sought his face, taking in the slight movement of his head and the small crease between his brows.  “Tamara, how long is the anesthesia supposed to last?” she asked worriedly.  She smoothed her hand over his hair, hoping it would soothe him.

 

“I-I don’t know, Belle,” the medic answered, handing the doctor a retractor to hold open the incision.  “We’ve never tested it.  Just watch him closely and let me know if he looks as if he’s waking.”

 

Belle whispered soft words next to his ear.  She didn’t care if it sounded like nonsense, or even if he could understand her in his drugged state.  She simply wanted him to be able to hear the sound of her voice, to let him know he wasn’t alone.

 

Brightman inserted the camera into the incision and fed it deeper into his chest, watching the monitor for its progress.  Belle winced as the camera finally picked up the tiny transmitter attached to his chest cavity just above his beating heart.  Belle tilted her head to the side, fascinated by the sight of the delicate organ.  She’d seen one of Rumpelstiltskin’s enchanted hearts before, but never one still beating inside someone’s chest.

 

“Ok, I see it,” Brightman said, her eyes trained on the little device as she inserted a retractor into the open incision.  “Digging it out is going to be a bit tricky, but…”  Her voice trailed away as the ship rocked violently beneath her feet.

 

TJ reached out and grabbed the doctor’s arm to steady her.  “Are you ok?”

 

Wide fearful eyes lifted to meet TJ’s gaze before falling down to stare at her bloody hands.  “Oh God!  Oh my God!”

 

“Chloe!” Belle cried, staring in horror at her friend as she released the camera and retractor.

 

“Eli, this is Scott,” the lieutenant barked into his radio.  “We just lost the connection.  What the heck is going on down there?”

 

“Say again?” Young returned, trying to hear over the sparking console brought on by the enemy fire battering away at the shields.

 

“We lost the connection.  The doctor’s gone,” Scott repeated.

 

Eli shrugged as he looked at the colonel.  “Maybe…maybe there’s too much interference with all the enemy fire on the shields?”

 

“Fix it,” Everett commanded sharply.

 

Eli emitted a little high-pitched laugh.  “What?!  I’m guessing as it is!”

 

“I’m sorry, you’re on your own.  TJ, you get that thing out of him.”

 

“Shields aren’t going to last much longer.  There’s nothing I can do,” Eli added.

 

Scott turned and stabbed the medic with his piercing blue gaze.  “TJ!”

 

“I _can’t_!” she wailed.

 

“You get that thing out of him right now or I’m gonna have to!”

 

“Over my dead body, boy,” Belle yelled over the din of their arguing combined with the continuous enemy blasts.  “Damn!” 

 

Rush stirred, groaning as he tried to sit up.  He stared down in horror at the gaping hole in his chest.  “What are you doing to me?!”

 

“Hold him down!” TJ cried, reaching over to hand the syringe of anesthesia to Belle so she could inject it into his IV.

 

“I got it!” Belle assured her, dropping the empty syringe on the tray as she leaned down to whisper to Rush.  “It’s ok, love, go back to sleep.  I’ve got you.”  She covered his ears with her hands, her thumbs brushing back and forth over his temples.  Gradually, he relaxed again and they were all able to breathe again.  “Ok, he’s out again.”

 

TJ prayed for steady hands as she took the camera and retractor in hand and focused on her task.  “Ok, there it is.”  Chloe took the camera tube from her and held it still as TJ dug deeper with the retractor.  “Ok, I’ve got it.  I’m going to pull it out.”

 

“What the hell is going on?!” Dunning asked as he strode into the infirmary.  He ducked as one of the panels on the medical devices behind him sparked.  “Miss French!  Would you care to explain?”

 

Belle smirked over at him, her thumbs continuing to stroke Rush’s brow.  “Sorry, Jack, kinda busy right now.  If you’d care to wait I’ll be with you as soon as we’re done here.  How’d you get through if the communication stones are malfunctioning?”

 

“Apparently, your people fixed the problem.  Unfortunately, Dr. Brightman was spooked by the ship being under attack and refused to return.  Said something about not being able to work under such extreme conditions.”

 

Belle snorted.

 

TJ froze, staring at the general.  “General O’Neil?”

 

“TJ!” Scott snapped.

 

The medic shook off her surprise and slowly pulled the retractor from Rush’s chest, dropping the tiny transmitter into a metal tray Chloe held out to her and handing it off to Scott.  He took it several paces away to an empty counter and slammed the butt of his pistol down onto it, shattering the tracking device into several pieces.

 

He clicked the com button on his radio.  “We got it, sir!”

 

TJ nodded and swiped her forearm over her damp brow.  “Chloe, can you grab a suture kit for me please so we can close him up?”

 

The ship rocked again and O’Neil stumbled.  Belle reached out a hand to steady him.  “I’m so sorry you had to come, Jack, but I needed you,” she said, her eyes sad as she looked into the dark brown eyes of his host.

 

“Of course,” he said, smiling slightly.  “You were able to convince Dr. Rush to endorse McKay’s latest research which effectively got him away from HWC.  I owe you.”

 

“Well I’m calling in my favor.”

 

“You want to tell me why the lieutenant is digging around in Rush’s chest?” he asked, pointing a squirrelly finger in the doctor’s direction.

 

Belle huffed a short bark of hysterical laughter.  “Sure.”  She turned to Chloe who looked rather pale and practically dead on her feet.  “Chloe, I’m going to go right over there.  Can I trust you to watch over him?”

 

Chloe nodded.  “I won’t leave his side.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

“The shields are barely registering,” Eli shrieked, his voice tinny with panic.

 

As if to prove his words true, another panel exploded in a shower of sparks behind Young, sending him reeling into the secondary console.

 

“We’re jumping!” Eli slumped wearily against the console, his relief coursing through his body as the FTL drive engaged and Destiny left the alien ships behind with no further way to track them.

 

Young straightened his jacket and turned to leave, taking the corridor that would lead him to the mess hall where Greer and James had a contingent of soldiers keeping watch over the remaining civilians that had been part of the mutiny.  He stood in the doorway and eyed each and every one of them, hoping to guilt them into submission as he dismissed them to their quarters.

 

Camille stopped before him, crossing her arms over her chest as she glared obstinately at him.  “So…where do we go from here?” she asked, disgust at her failure clearly evident in her tone.

 

“I’m open to suggestions,” he offered magnanimously.

 

“Obviously, we need to find a way to work together,” she replied, attempting to stare him down.  She still felt as if she’d acted in the best interests of all non-military personnel on board and she refused to apologize for her hand in the coup.

 

The colonel laughed bitterly.  “Pretend it never happened, you mean.”

 

Camille gave a rueful shake of her head.  “You shouldn’t have left him on the planet.”

 

“You think I don’t know that?” Everett asked softly, remorse coloring his tone.

 

“I’d have to agree with Ms. Wray, Everett,” a new voice sounded from behind him and Young turned to stare incredulously at Airman Dunning.

 

“General O’Neil?” Camille asked in surprise, taking note of his posture and the small nuances of his speech.

 

“If you’d please come with me to the infirmary?” he asked, not expecting either of them to refuse.  “Miss French had a very interesting tale to tell.  Let’s see if we can’t resolve your issues, shall we?  I’d avail myself of your office, Everett, but she refuses to leave Dr. Rush.  How the hell did that happen, by the way?”

 

“You’re asking me?” Young gaped.  “It’s not like I can impose the non-fraternization edict on the civilians.  Rush was kind enough to point that out and Camille agrees.”

 

“What is this? A democracy? How innovative of you, Colonel,” O’Neil snarked with a short laugh.

 

Belle smoothed the blankets over Nicholas and smiled at Jack as he entered the infirmary with Young and Camille in tow.  “I see you had no trouble convincing them to join us,” she retorted, a sly smile gracing her rosy lips as she gestured to several chairs she’d pulled up for them.  They were close enough for her to join the discussion and still be able to listen for any signs of Rush waking.

 

The general remained standing, holding his silence until Camille and the colonel were seated.  Belle would represent Rush since he was so severely incapacitated, but there was no delaying this meeting.  Jack cleared his throat.  “Miss French has told me the feud between you and Dr. Rush has escalated to the point where you’ve tried to kill him.  What do you have to say in your defense?”

 

Young pointed a finger in her direction, his eyes twin coals of fury in his face.  “Did she also tell you Rush tried to frame me for murder?  Or did she just happen to forget that little fact?”

 

“Miss French has been very forthcoming with her information and I have no reason to doubt her.  She’s explained about the chair, their research, your unwillingness to allow the science team to experiment on the chair, Dr. Franklin’s accident, Spencer’s suicide and the subsequent misunderstanding following, your actions concerning them being left of the planet and the failed mutiny.  Have I missed anything, Miss French?” he asked, glancing over his shoulder at her.

 

“No, Jack, that about covers it.”

 

“Now…” he said, rocking back on his heels as he clasped his hands behind his back.  “What I want to know is why you and Dr. Rush didn’t come to me with your concerns if these issues couldn’t be worked out between the two of you?”

 

“This is my command, General—“

 

“A command you turned down, Everett.”

 

“Regardless, I’m here and I take my duty seriously.  I cannot let Rush just run amok all over this ship doing god knows what and endangering the lives of my crew!” Young snarled, forgetting himself as his ire rose.  “I regret leaving him on the planet and I _did_ try to convince Miss French to return to the ship which she blatantly refused.”

 

“I understand your position, but this has to stop.  I don’t want to have to come back up here to iron out your difficulties.  Dr. Rush is the best chance you have up here of figuring out how to get home.  Miss French assures me their research on the chair is progressing and there will be no more _accidents_.  Leave them alone and let them work…for now.”  He turned his steady gaze on Camille.  “Ms. Wray, you will take command of the civilians and contractors, and work with Colonel Young to make sure things run smoothly between civilian and military personnel.  However, both of you,” he said, looking at both Belle and Camille and daring them to argue. “Both of you will heed Colonel Young’s final say in the matter.  It’s as simple as that.”

 

Everett’s eyes narrowed on his superior.  “So you’re just going to sweep everything that happened under the rug?”

 

“You _want_ me to demote you? Court martial you? How is that going to solve anything?” he asked, arching a brow at the man.  “No.  These are special circumstances and you _will_ learn to work together.  All of you.”

 

“Yes, sir,” Young rasped out through clenched teeth.  Camille nodded, more than satisfied by the general’s new executive order.

 

“One more thing,” Jack turned to face Belle.  “I was going over the roster detailing leave and I noticed neither you nor Dr. Rush have left Destiny since coming on board.”

 

Belle wrung her hands, her brow furrowing in displeasure.  “No, we haven’t.  There’s no need for either of us to visit Earth as we’ve no family or friends to see.  We’re happy to remain here on board.”

 

“Regardless,” He smiled cheekily.  “Everyone needs leave, French.  When Dr. Rush has sufficiently recovered from his surgery, the two of you will be expected to take your leave for no less than two days.”

 

“Jack,” Belle lamented, pursing her lips in a pout.  “I don’t want to.  It’s just creepy switching bodies with someone else.  And Nicholas is going to be angry if he has to leave Destiny.”  She lowered her voice as she stepped closer to him, fully aware of Camille and the colonel listening to every word.  “He doesn’t trust the ship not to fall into disrepair if he’s not here.”

 

“Then we’ll just have to find someone he trusts to take his place.  I’m sure Daniel wouldn’t mind.  He’s been dying to come up here.” 

 

“Jack, please,” Belle pleaded, just the thought of returning to Earth making her skin itch…even if it would be in someone else’s body.

 

“That’s an order, Miss French.”

 

  _Well.  Just.  Shit!_

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Well, so much for the mutiny. Can’t wait to hear what you think of this one (o: Next chapter, Nicholas has a surprise for Belle when they return to Earth, they encounter a planet that shouldn’t be there and Belle has a helluva time keeping Rush from killing himself with overwork after his surgery. Thank you all for reading and reviewing! Your support keeps me writing. Xoxoxo


	13. Faith

Rush groaned, the air hissing between his teeth as a sharp pain shot through his chest.  His limbs felt heavy and sluggish as his mind fought its way out of the fog that seemed to dull his senses.  If it weren’t for the pain, he could have happily drifted back into the comforting arms of slumber, but it wouldn’t be denied.  It almost felt as it there were lead weights resting on his eyelids as he tried to drag them open.  And then his mind cleared as the memories came rushing back in a flood of light, sound and sensory overload as he noticed the dark head resting on the gurney next to his hip and a long slender arm thrown over his thighs.

 

Belle…his light in the darkness.  She’d kept her promise and remained at his side through it all.  Warmth spread through him, as if a tiny sun were trapped beneath his skin.  His hand trembled as he untwined his fingers from hers and stroked lightly over the softness of her cheek.  She snuffled softly and tightened her grip on him, clinging to the last vestiges of sleep.

 

“Hey, you’re awake,” TJ said, making her way over to his makeshift bed to check on him.  “How are you feeling?”

 

“Thirsty,” he rasped out, his throat parched and his voice hoarse from disuse.  He raised up on an elbow and took the cup from her with a shaky hand.  “How long have I been out?” he asked, handing it back to her and collapsing back against the cool sheet beneath him.

 

TJ lifted a corner of his bandage to check his incision for redness and any signs of infection, pleased when she found none.  “About six hours.  After we closed you up, I gave you another dose of anesthetic to make sure you rested peacefully.  Are you in any pain?”

 

“It’s bearable,” he said, his words belying the pained grimace that twisted his mouth.

 

“I can give you something if you’d like?  To take the edge off,” she offered, resting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

 

Rush shook his head.  “No, I need my head to clear, and besides, someone might need it later on more than I.”  He looked down at Belle’s dark locks spread out over the blanket and couldn’t help but ask.  “How long’s she been here?”

 

TJ smiled.  “She hasn’t left your side except to attend to personal needs.  Even when the general visited, she asked them to conduct their meeting here in the infirmary.”

 

Rush groaned inwardly.  What had his little love been up to while he’d been unconscious?  His dark gaze met the medic’s in a piercing look.  “Did you talk to her?  About what we did?” he asked, his voice still thready and weak.  “She was worried you’d be angry with her.”

 

TJ shrugged, but the smile never slipped from her lips.  “We did have a long talk.  I understand her need to protect you, Dr. Rush.  She loves you…has for a long time, I think.  Much longer than she’d be willing to admit.  She was afraid the colonel would…”

 

“Try to kill me again?”

 

“Yeah,” she murmured, glancing down at her hands as she pulled off the latex gloves.  “He was wrong to leave you and I’m not condoning his actions, but I don’t think he would try again.  At the same time, I can understand her fear.  I’m not going to stop being her friend because of her actions.”

 

“I can hear you, y’know?” Belle mumbled groggily as she lifted her head from her resting place.

 

“Good,” TJ said dryly.  “Now get up and take care of your patient.  Or did you plan to sleep all morning.”

 

Belle snorted a short laugh at her friend before she sobered.  “How is he?  Can I take him to our quarters?”

 

“In a few hours.”  TJ looked down at Rush.  “I’d like to keep you here for a while longer to make sure the antibiotics I gave you are going to be effective.” 

 

She left them alone to see about her duties and Belle rose from her stool.  She brushed the hair away from his brow as she came to stand over him, her fingertips trailing over his stubbled jaw.  “Hey.”

 

“Hey,” he answered, his features softening as he nuzzled into her touch, his lips ghosting a feather light kiss over her palm.

 

She leaned down ever so slightly and pressed her lips to his, her eyes stinging with unshed tears.  “I missed you, Nicholas,” she whispered, her warm breath fanning gently over his face.

 

His left hand rose to cradle the back of her head, unwilling to let her go so soon as he caught her lips again with his own.  “I missed you as well, _mo chroí_.  Are you alright?”

 

“I’m fine. Don’t you worry about me.  Concentrate on getting better,” she admonished gently.  “Are you hungry?  TJ said you can’t have solid food for twenty four hours, but I could mash some of the peaches up in some rations to make it taste better if you like.”

 

His stomach growled at the mere mention of peaches and she grinned knowingly.  Before he could protest, she lifted her radio from the waistband of her jeans and called her order in to the mess.  “While we wait…since you’re so insistent that I eat…why don’t you tell me about this meeting between you and the general?  What did you do, Belle?” he asked, his brow furrowing in bewilderment.

 

“Don’t fret, darling.  I did nothing wrong.  I just had Chloe fetch Jack for us when she switched with Dr. Brightman,” she said simply as she pulled her stool over closer to him.  “I told him everything that had happened between you and Colonel Young and we all sat down to discuss it.”

 

She acted as if it were no more important than discussing the weather.  “What?!” he practically snarled, and then pressed a hand to his chest as pain lanced through his incision.  “Belle, how could you have a meeting when I—“

 

“Couldn’t attend.  Yes, I know.  Please try not to get upset.”  She smoothed the blankets higher over his torso and sighed.  “I would think you’d trust me enough to see to your interests,” she said in a little hurt voice.  It shouldn’t surprise her, but it still hurt.  “Besides, this was the perfect opportunity to speak with him without having to gain the colonel’s permission to use the stones.”

 

He reached for her hand, bringing it to his lips to kiss her fingertips.  “I do trust you, Belle.  It’s Young I don’t trust.”  He sighed.  “What did General O’Neil have to say?”

 

“Just what I had expected from him.  We are all in a dire situation and we need to work together if we’re to survive and the like.  However, some good did come out of our little meeting.  Camille will be in charge of the civilians, Young in charge of the military personnel and you, my love, will have free reign over your science team.  Since the colonel cannot be removed from command, per se, he will still have final say in all decisions, but I think this will work to our benefit.  Not too shabby for someone who doesn’t have her doctorate, eh?” she said rather smugly.

 

“I know men with doctorates who’ve worked in the field for decades that aren’t half as brilliant as you, Belle,” he murmured proudly.  “I’m forever thankful that I hired you so long ago.”

 

“Is that all you’re thankful for?” she teased, leaning in to kiss him again.

 

“Hm…fishing for compliments?”

 

“Of course not.”

 

The look of tenderness that washed over his face made her eyes sting again.  “I’m thankful for all of you, _mo stór_ , but most especially your love.”

 

“I do love you, Nicholas,” she whispered fervently, leaning in once more to kiss him.  “And I’m hoping you’ll remember that when I tell you of the general’s edict.”

 

Rush groaned and scowled at Becker as he came into the infirmary with a metal tray holding his breakfast.  She offered her thanks to the man and set it on the table beside the gurney, reaching for the lever that would raise the head of the narrow bed.  “And what might that be?” he asked, as he opened his mouth to accept the spoon she held to his lips.  “I can feed myself, y’know!  I’m not an invalid!”

 

“Oh, stop your grousing.  You just had surgery, so let me care for you.”  She smiled when he rolled his eyes and pried his lips apart, accepting her offering.  A slow surprised smile spread over his face as the new flavor burst on his tongue.  “See, not too terrible, is it?”

 

“It’s actually not that bad,” he admitted.  “Now tell me what O’Neil said.”

 

Belle sighed and managed to get three more bites into him before she answered.  “He noticed we haven’t taken leave in the month we’ve been here and has ordered us to use the stones once you’ve recovered enough to switch with someone.  No less than two days.”

 

“Did you explain to him how important our work is? That we have no time to spare for playtime on Earth?”

 

“I did.”  She set the empty bowl aside and twined her fingers with his as she rested her head on his shoulder, weariness making her yawn.  “He made it an order and Young agrees.  We’ve no choice.”

 

“Bloody wonderful.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Rush stumbled along the corridor, using a hand against the wall to brace himself as he made his way towards the control room.  His other hand pressed to his bandaged sternum and he gnashed his teeth against the pain.  He paused a moment to take a deep breath and continued on, trying not to think about how angry Belle was going to be when she found out he’d left their bed.  TJ had released him from the infirmary into Belle’s care, but had strictly forbid him to return to work for at least a week.  He didn’t think he was doing badly for someone who’d had their chest cut open a mere eighteen hours ago.

 

Park gasped as he stumbled into the room and slumped against his console, fighting to catch his breath.  “Should you be out of bed?”

 

“There’s, uh, too much work to be done.  We’d best get on with it,” he rasped out weakly. 

 

“Does Belle know you’re out of bed and wandering the halls in your condition?” Brody asked, looking at him with concern.

 

“Do you think I’d be here if she did?” he snarked, pulling his notebook from the back pocket of his jeans.  “Where is she by the way?”

 

“She and Eli are in the chair room working on the program to slow down the download of data into the subject’s mind during transfer.”  Park offered him a cup of water, which he accepted gratefully.

 

“Good.  That’s good,” he said, trying to focus on the screen.  “See that she remains there for awhile.”

 

Brody chuckled as he made his way past Rush on his way to the door.  “Oh, no, brother man, you are on your own.  And I wouldn’t want to be you when Belle finds out.”  He turned to Lisa.  “I’ll be gearing up to start repairs on the damaged shuttle so keep the link open.”

 

An hour later, Brody stepped back from the break in the shuttle wall he’d welded closed.  He was hoping it would repair the damage and they could finally lay the senator’s body to rest.  “Alright, we’re ready,” he reported through the open com link attached to his suit.

 

Rush, hunched over the console, rubbed absently at his chest as another sharp pain seared his flesh, but he nodded to Lisa.  “Go ahead and re-pressurize.”

 

Lisa entered the necessary commands.  “Re-pressurizing.”

 

Brody could feel the shift in the air around his suit and he removed his helmet to take a deep breath.  “It’s holding steady.  Hey, we’ve got atmosphere.”

 

“Very good, Mr. Brody,” Rush wheezed into his radio.  “Continue with the repairs, beginning with navigation and propulsion.” 

 

“Roger that.”  Brody signed off.

 

“Dr. Park, have Volker gather a team to see to the senator’s body.  Make sure Miss Armstrong has the support she’ll need.  This is going to be difficult for her, and—“

 

“NICHOLAS RUSH!!! Why do I hear your voice over the radio when you’re supposed to be resting?  Where are you?” came Belle’s angry piercing shriek.

 

Lisa smiled and gathered her things together to leave the control room.  “Good luck, Dr. Rush,” she nearly sing-songed as she left him alone.  She didn’t want to be anywhere near when Belle finally located her lover.

 

Young passed her on his way in, his ever present frown dark and brooding.  “Rush, what the hell are you doing?”

 

Nicholas glanced at him, barely acknowledging his presence before turning back to the console.  “Repairing the damaged shuttle, if that’s alright?” he said defensively.

 

“I mean, you just had surgery,” Everett argued.

 

Rush bit the inside of his cheek to keep the blank expression on his face.  “I’m fine, thank you.”

 

“You look like you’re ready to drop dead.”

 

Rush emitted a bitter laugh and then wished he hadn’t as the pain increased.  “And that would be a bad thing?” he snarked.

 

“ _Yes_ , Rush, that would be a bad thing.  Listen to me, the civilians aboard this ship didn’t try to take over because they thought I was doing a bang-up job.  I get that,” Everett admitted ruefully.  He’d had a lot of time to think about it as he was lying in bed tossing and turning.

 

“Well, good for you,” the scientist mumbled acidly beneath his breath.

 

“I also _get_ that I have to make this work,” Young continued as if he hadn’t been interrupted, “so I’ve ordered my people to make a special effort.  I’ would like to do the same—even with you.”

 

“Wow!” Rush exclaimed, condescension dripping from his tone.  “That must’ve taken _quite_ the effort.”

 

“You have no idea,” Young said grimly as he shoved his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels.

 

“I swear by the gods, Nicholas, I’m going to take you back to the infirmary and tie you to the fucking bed!”  Belle screeched as she stormed into the room.  Her face was flushed and angry red and several tendrils of her chestnut hair curled about her face where it had escaped the messy bun at her crown. 

 

Nicholas grimaced, realizing she must have run all the way from the chair room.  “Belle, _mo ghrá_ , calm down.  I have too much work to do to be lying abed.”

 

She glared at him through narrowed eyes as she reached for the hem of his shirt, pulling it from the waistband of his jeans and pulling it over his head.  “I’m telling you now, if you’ve popped your stitches there will be hell to pay,” she fumed, peeling back his bandage to inspect his wound.  “Just look at you.  You can hardly breathe through the pain, you’re cold and clammy and can barely hold your head up.”

 

“I’m fine!!”

 

“No, you’re not!” 

 

He yowled as she probed gently at the tender area on his chest.  “Belle!”

 

She replaced the bandage, satisfied that he hadn’t caused himself more harm and helped him back into his shirt.  “Everett, you should have ordered him back to bed immediately,” she snarled without turning to look at the man.

 

“And since when does he follow my orders?” he chortled.  “You’re the only one on this ship he seems to listen to.”

 

Rush’s head dropped against her chest as he pulled her to stand between his parted knees, the exertion from donning his clothes taxing his already beleaguered system.  “I’m alright, Belle.  I haven’t done anything but sit at my console.  I’ve been coordinating with the rest of the team by radio, nothing more.”

 

Of course his explanations did little to appease her.  She cradled his face in her palms, her thumbs brushing gently over his pale cheeks.  “Nicholas, you have to give your body time to heal.  Your immune system is precarious at best from the lack of nutrition and proper sleep,” she said, gentling her tone.  “You made me stay in bed for two days because of a sprain.  I’m not being unrealistic in my demands and you know it.”

 

Young wandered off to the secondary console to give them privacy, uncomfortable to see the genuine love and concern the petite brunette displayed for the hardened scientist.  He found himself envious that he couldn’t have the same with Tamara.  He doubted he’d ever be able to repair their relationship even if she’d give him another chance.

 

“Belle, I have to be able to work.  There’s too much to do and I need access to my console, to the computer,” he said, a plaintive note in his voice.  “I can’t do that if I have to stay in bed.”

 

“And you can’t do that if you disregard your health and kill yourself!”

 

His arms tightened about her waist as he rested his head against her shoulder, grateful for her support.  “Please don’t fight me on this.  If you must, stay with me here in the control room, but don’t take this away from me.”

 

“Stubborn to the core,” she mumbled irritably under her breath as she lifted the radio from the waistband of her jeans.  “TJ, come in, please.”

 

“Go ahead.”

 

“If Rush sits at his console without too much getting up and down, will it hurt his condition?” she asked, carding her fingers through his damp hair as he rested against her.

 

“He’s working!?” the medic cried.

 

“Unfortunately, yes.  We’d have to keep him sedated in order to make him stay in bed and I think it will do him more harm than good roaming the corridors in search of a console to work from.  And you know he’ll do it.”

 

“Will he compromise?”

 

“Doubtful, but I can try.  What do you recommend?”

 

“No more than three hours at the console followed by five to six hours of bed rest,” TJ replied.

 

“What?!” Rush gaped, reaching for the radio. 

 

Belle held it out of his reach and gave him a warning look.  “Thank you, TJ.  I’ll make sure he follows your instructions.”

 

“You heard her, Nicholas,” she smiled, taking in his scowl.  “Three hours and then you rest.  If I have to, I’ll ask Everett to make it an order and have a guard posted outside our quarters to make sure you remain there.”

 

 _FUCK! And she’d do it too_ , he thought irritably.  “You wouldn’t.”

 

“Care to test me?” she asked, arching a brow as she tugged on the ends of his hair.  “Everett, you’d help, wouldn’t you?”

 

“Of course.  We can’t have him endangering himself, now can we?” the colonel asked, a smug smirk curling his thin lips.

 

She wrapped her arms about his shoulders and held him tightly.  “I can’t lose you, Nicholas,” she murmured, her warm breath ghosting over the shell of his ear.  “I love you.  If I didn’t, I wouldn’t care so much what happened to you.”

 

He sighed as she released him and settled on the stool at his side.  “I love you too.  Now, let’s get started, since our time is limited.”

 

“The FTL drive just disengaged,” Belle said, shaking her head at the familiar lurching in her stomach.  “Colonel Young?”

 

Everett retrieved his radio from his belt and pressed the com button.  “Lt Scott, we’ve just dropped out of FTL.  Please have a team ready on stand-by.”

 

Rush frowned as he looked up at the countdown clock on the wall above the door, the numbers still and unmoving.  “But the gate isn’t dialing,” he said.

 

“Why not?” Young asked, just as puzzled as the scientist.

 

He looked down at the screen on his console and then at Belle, her brow drawn tightly in concentration as she tried to come up with an explanation for the colonel.  “Because there’s nothing there.”

 

“It appears we’ve dropped out of FTL into empty space—no planets, no stars, nothing,” Rush said.

 

Brody, having heard everything from the open com link between the control room and the shuttle, said urgently, “Uh…you might want to re-check that data.”

 

Belle slipped her arm around Rush’s waist as he rose unsteadily from the stool at his console.  “Eli, bring my laptop to the control room and then meet us on the observation deck.  I think there’s something you’ll want to see,” she chirped into her radio, returning it to her belt when he answered, promising he would.  She’d been so upset upon learning Rush was working, she’d abandoned her own work to seek him out.  If she were going to be there with him for the majority of the day, there was no reason she couldn’t continue work on her program.

 

Rush leaned heavily on the railing as he stared out the great window on the observation deck at the nearby sun.  Eli stepped up beside him, shaking his head.  “The ships that are seeding the gates ahead of Destiny—I though they sent a record of the star systems in our path.”

 

“They do,” Belle confirmed, equally baffled at what she was seeing.

 

Eli arched a brow and flapped his hands towards the window.  “What’s that then?!”

 

His voice still thready and weak, Rush answered, “That star is not supposed to be here.”

X*X*X*X*X

 

Back in the control interface room once again, Rush ran the last of the scans and pulled up the information he’d gathered on the holo-screen.  Young rocked back on his heels and cocked his head to the side, trying to make out the Ancient text to the left of the screen.

 

“So what’ve we found out?” he asked.

 

Rush rubbed at the bandage beneath his shirt, gnashing his teeth against the onslaught of pain and tried to focus.  “It’s a G2 star, yellow dwarf, similar to our own sun.  Because Destiny didn’t know it was here, the star’s gravity disrupted our propulsion systems, causing us to drop out of FTL prematurely.”  He drew in a ragged breath and Eli cast him a worried look, but he continued with his explanation.  “A glitch in the technology.”

 

“So what happens now?” Young asked, turning to face him.

 

“We’ve entered a parabolic course.”  Rush typed out several commands and brought up a depiction of the route the ship would take through the system.  “Once we’re round the star, we’ll be far enough away from its gravitational influence, back into FTL, and on our way.”

 

“How long’s that gonna take?” Young asked, turning back to the screen for another look.

 

“A few weeks.  There _is_ , however, a silver lining,” Rush murmured, the display changing again as he typed out more commands.

 

Eli frowned at the screen in surprise.  “A planet?”

 

Belle breezed back into the room, a small container of powdered pain killers TJ had made from her various herbs and a canteen, filling her hands.  She sat down next to him and pulled off the lid, holding it out to him.  “TJ said this should help without making you drowsy, Nicholas.”

 

He cast her a dubious look.  “I told you I didn’t need anything, Belle.”

 

She leaned over and lowered her voice.  “Well, you can either take some now, and work a little longer, or I can shovel some into your mouth when you collapse.  Your choice,” she purred in a honey sweet tone that sounded rather menacing to his ears.

 

He dipped his pinky into the powder and sucked it into his mouth, scowling at her for her insistence.  It didn’t matter that he would have done the same to her had she been the one suffering.  His forced restrictions on her last week were far worse than what she was putting him through, whether or not he cared to admit it.

 

Eli continued to study the holo-screen.  “It looks close.”

 

“It is.  Within shuttle range, actually,” Nicholas nodded, his hands unclenching on the console as the powder began to do its work.

 

“Atmosphere?” the colonel asked.

 

Rush smirked.  “In a word…perfect.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle stared at the holo-screen and watched the shuttle lift off before her eyes darted over to Rush.  He had thirty minutes before his time was to be up.  His face was pale and gray and his dark eyes were glazed with the pain he tried so hard to hide from her.  She knew how important it was for him to keep working, but she’d be damned if she let him kill himself because of it.

 

He leaned into her touch as she rubbed gently at the nape of his neck.  “I’ve been over the database a dozen times.  No evidence of any glitch or anomaly,” he said, clearing his throat.

 

“Yeah,” Eli said, staring down at the screen on his own console.  “I couldn’t find anything either.  It’s like this star just appeared out of nowhere.”

 

Belle toggled between her laptop and the console until she found the data she was looking for.    “Well, vigorous surface activity, strong stellar winds, bipolar outflow.  It’s brand new, alright.  It’s straight out of T Tauri phase.”

 

“Which would still make it, like, what? A hundred million years old?” the boy asked.

 

“Two hundred million,” Belle corrected.

 

“And how far ahead of us are those gate-seeding ships?” Young asked, his eyes still trained on the holo-screen.

 

Rush sighed, shaking his head.  “It doesn’t make any sense.  The ships would have noticed it.”

 

“And dropped a shiny new stargate on the planet.  Why would they pass up such a perfect opportunity?” Eli questioned, scratching his head in bewilderment.

 

“That’s the weird thing about this.  I mean, if this star really _is_ this young, then that planet should still be a ball of molten rock.”  Her watch beeped an alarm and she rose to her feet, giving Rush a pointed look.  “Alright, times up.  Gentlemen, we’ll have to pick this discussion up later this afternoon.”

 

“Belle I can’t just leave in the middle of this,” Rush cried petulantly as he gestured at the console.  “I need to—“

 

“Rest,” she finished for him, her tone brooking no objection.  “You are not the only one capable of working this new situation.  Eli can keep you abreast of any new developments over the radio and should it require your personal attention, I can come back to the control room to deal with it,” she said, tugging on his arm to urge him to his feet.

 

Young shook his head at the pair.  “Scott will radio once he and the team have landed on the planet, so you have a couple hours before you can do anything.  Go with Miss French and let her take care of you, Rush.  You’re no good to us dead.”

 

He cast one last long suffering look at his console and sighed as she wrapped her arm about his waist.  He leaned heavily on her, his head spinning and pain ripping through his chest.  Perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad to rest for a while, he admitted, if only to himself.  She moved slowly down the dimly lit corridors that led to their quarters, trying not to jar him too much.  Still, he was out of breath by the time they reached their quarters and she helped him into bed.

 

Belle gently helped divest him of his waistcoat and t-shirts and he groaned as he laid back against the pillows so she could remove his boots and set them next to the bed.  “What were you thinking, Nicholas,” she scolded, reaching for his bandage.

 

A slow hiss of pain escaped his parted lips as she removed the soiled bandage, his eyes closing to keep from seeing the disappointment in her cerulean gaze.  “I was thinking that we’ve already missed so much, what with being left on the planet, our abduction and then this,” he said, weakly gesturing at his chest.  “There’s so much work to be done, Belle.”

 

Belle left his side and moved over to their dresser where she had a small bundle of antiseptic and clean bandages.  “I know, darling, but you can’t work if you won’t let yourself heal,” she said softly as she returned to his side.  “Besides, as we’ve come to see with Destiny, there will always be work to be done.”

 

He yowled as the antiseptic came in contact with the wound.  “Christ, woman!” he snarled at her, his lips drawn back over his teeth.

 

“I’m sorry…I’m sorry,” she soothed.  “It can’t be helped.  I don’t want it to get infected.”  She pulled the tin containing the powder TJ had given her from the pocket of her jeans and spooned a bit on her finger to press to his tongue.  “Here, drink some water.”

 

“This is awful,” he complained.

 

“If it helps with the pain and makes you relax enough to rest, it will be worth it.”  She leaned over to give him a quick kiss and smiled as she brushed at the fringe of hair that had fallen over his brow.  “Did anyone ever tell you what a horrible patient you are?”

 

He ignored her question with a _humph_ and took her hand.  “Lie down with me?” he asked, a hopeful gleam in his eye.

 

“Of course.”  She set her radio on the bedside table and removed her sandals before easing herself onto the mattress beside him.  Already he was beginning to relax, his eyes closing wearily.  “Sleep, darling,” she cooed against his ear.  “I’ll be here when you wake,”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Several hours later, Belle rose from the bed and stretched, the vertebrae in her back giving a little pop as she trekked to the door to answer the soft knock.  She yawned, shaking off the last vestiges of sleep from her nap as the door whooshed open to reveal Chloe, her eyes red rimmed and puffy.

 

“Hey,” she said, a little tremor in her voice as she glanced past Belle to Rush’s sleeping form.  “How’s Dr. Rush?”

 

Belle motioned for her to come in and closed the door.  “He’s stubborn and willful and doesn’t want to listen to well-meaning advice…as usual…but he’s going to be fine I think.  How are you?”

 

“Um…” the tall brunette hedged as she took a seat in one of the chairs at the small table.  “Okay I guess.  We…” she took a deep breath, fighting back the tears that had been plaguing her all day.  “We were finally able to lay my dad to rest.”

 

Belle reached for her, pulling the girl into her arms.  “Oh, Chloe, I didn’t know.  I would’ve been there for you.”

 

“No, it’s ok,” Chloe assured her.  “You’ve been so busy with work and trying to care for Rush.”  She lowered her gaze to her hands clasped tightly in her lap as Belle sat back in her chair.  “It was only a few of us there.  Camille, Lisa, Brody and Volker and Colonel Young…he said some really nice things about my dad.”

 

“And of course, Scott couldn’t be there because he was down on the planet.”

 

Chloe nodded and swiped at the tears that threatened at her lashes.  “I don’t know that I would’ve wanted him there anyway.”  She lifted her iolite eyes to her friend, misery etched on her face.  “Things are a bit strained right now because of the coup.  It’s like we don’t know what to say to one another anymore.  I’ve…um…I’ve moved out of his quarters.  I thought I’d ask, though, if you’d mind if I moved closer to you? In this wing of the ship?”

 

Belle reached out and squeezed her hand.  “Of course you can, Chloe.  I think that would be lovely.  The privacy afforded us here will do you some good, give you time to think in relative quiet.”

 

“Just hang a towel on the door or something when you shower so we don’t burst in on you,” Rush mumbled from the bed.

 

“Oh, Dr. Rush, I didn’t mean to disturb you,” Chloe said, her gaze swinging between him and Belle.  “Really, I didn’t.”

 

“You’re not disturbing me,” he reassured her, leaning up on an elbow.  “You know you’re always welcome to come here.”

 

Belle laughed softly.  “And that’s something coming from him, considering he doesn’t like _anyone_.” 

 

He wrinkled his nose at her and propped himself up on an extra pillow.  “She’s not quite as annoying as the rest of this lot,” he admitted with a rueful smile.  He retrieved the radio from the bedside table and turned up the volume as Scott’s voice came over the device.

 

“Colonel, this is Scott, come in.”

 

The colonel answered and Rush warned the girls to silence so they could listen in. 

 

“We’re getting a ton of plant samples.  TJ thinks there’s all sorts of medicinal possibilities,” the lieutenant reported.  “Uh, we also found some fruit.  The team is using those scanners Belle found in some of the Ancient crates to test it and so far we’ve had only good readings, nothing toxic or harmful.”

 

Rush pressed the com button and lifted the radio closer to his mouth.  “How about water?”

 

“Tons of it.  Pure, too.  We’ll bring back as much of it as we can,” Scott promised.

 

“No alien creatures slithering around?” Eli asked, the squeak in his voice evidence to the memory of the slimy little creatures they’d encountered previously in their altered timeline.

 

“No, nothing.  It’s weird, but it’s daytime, so who knows what comes out at night?  We’re thinking maybe farther afield we might come across some animals that could provide us with some meat.  We’re hoping at least.  Greer wants to barbeque and I have to say it would be a nice change.”

 

Young sighed.  “Alright, load up the shuttle and head on back and do a flyover of the area on your way.  Use the scanners.”

 

“Copy that. Scott out.”

 

Rush tossed the radio on the bed and reached for his shirt as he swung his legs over the side, sitting up.  Belle moved to stand beside him, tugging the shirt from his hands.  “Where do you think you’re going?”

 

“Back to work, of course.”

 

“Uh…no.  You still have another hour,” she said, pushing gently on his shoulder to get him to lie back down. 

 

“Belle,” he lamented, his eyes narrowing plaintively on her.  “I need to get back to the control room.  Scott will be coming back and I want to see what the scanners picked up.”

 

“No.”

 

Chloe smiled for the first time that day, enjoying their banter.  It still amazed her that the hardened scientist would so easily acquiesce to his little assistant’s wishes.  She wished she could have the same ease in her relationship with the lieutenant, but she didn’t see that happening any time soon.  “I’m going to move my stuff, Belle.  I’ll see you later when the shuttle gets back?  I’m dying to see what they bring back.”

 

Belle nodded, watching her friend leave.  She turned back to Rush and gave him another dose of his pain medication and some water.  “Don’t look at me like that, Nicholas.  The time will pass before you know it and then you’ll be back in the control room.”

 

He gave her a sulky look and eyed his boots, wondering what it would take to get her to relent.  He sighed.  Sometimes she could be just as stubborn as him.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Rush slowly raised his dark gaze from the console and cast a furtive glance towards the door of the control room before he looked over at the colonel.  Gods, how he hated to have to ask the man for anything, much less a favor.  “Colonel Young, were you able to put my request before the general when you met with him this afternoon?”

 

“Actually I did,” he said, leaning against the console and keeping his voice lowered on the off chance that Belle would return from the mess and overhear.  “Your leave is scheduled a week from tomorrow and Dr. Verrett will be waiting for the both of you there at HWC.  General O’Neil said Daniel is very happy to be taking your place for the weekend.”

 

“I’m sure he is,” Rush scoffed.  “I doubt, however, he’s going to be happy about his host’s painful chest wound that will keep him from exploring Destiny to the extent he’d like.  And there’s no telling what I’ll come back to after he’s been up here nosing around in my research.”

 

“I think it’s admirable that you’d want to help Belle in such a way,” Everett said, a faint smile on his lips. 

 

“Why wouldn’t I?  She deserves it as hard as she works.  It was wrong of me to recruit her into the program before she could finish, but looking back,” he shrugged.  “There was no way I could have kept her from it.”

 

Belle smiled as she came back into the room carrying a steaming cup of tea and a bowl of ‘sludge’.  “Kept who from what?” she asked, setting the bowl next to the console where she usually rested her laptop.  He accepted the mug gratefully, but scowled down at the paste with bits of green fruit.  “Don’t give me that look, Nicholas, you need to eat.  Greer brought back some kiwi…or the planet’s equivalent…and it perks the sludge up quite a bit.  Eat.”

 

Admittedly, it wasn’t bad, the fruit giving it a bit of sweetness.  He swallowed the first bite and acknowledged her question.  “I was telling the colonel that there was no keeping you off the project when I told you about Icarus.”

 

Belle snorted.  “As if you’d have left me behind.  After all, who would’ve fetched your coffee and made sure you ate regularly, hm?” she teased.

 

“Don’t listen to her, Colonel.  She’s brilliant and she knows it, yet modest enough not to let it go to her head.”  He set the bowl aside, smiling as a rosy blush settled into her cheeks at his praise.

 

“She’s more than proven that,” Young agreed, turning on his heel to face Scott and Eli who chatted quietly about what the lieutenant and his team had encountered on the planet.

 

Belle pulled up the footage from the shuttle’s scanners on the holo-screen display and whistled softly.  Scott nodded at the image.  “It’s massive,” he said, his eyes focused on the immense obelisk on the screen.  “Two thousand feet high at least.  We detected a faint EM field around it, but nothing else.”

 

“Those markings—like some kinda alien language,” Eli remarked as he tilted his head to the side, his brow furrowed.

 

“Do you think it’s the same ones we keep running into?” Belle asked, suppressing a shudder at the thought of the Nakai.  She didn’t want to be near anything involving the blue beings after what they’d suffered at their hands.

 

Nicholas shook his head.  “Not with this level of technology.”

 

“What? To build this thing?” Young asked, referring to the obelisk.

 

“No—to create a planet.”  His statement was met with no small amount of shock.

 

“Nicholas, you think they actually engineered an entire planet?  They might be advanced,” Belle argued, “but I think this is far more than what they’re capable of.”

 

Eli laughed, his eyes alight with excitement.  “The Genesis Device!”  He stared at the others in disbelief when he was met with blank stares, none of them knowing what he was talking about.  He made a tsking sound and explained.  “The end of “Wrath of Khan!”

 

Belle dropped her head into her hand and groaned.  “Is this another of your sci-fi movie references?”

 

“Uh…yeah!” the boy bit out, disturbed by their lack of vision when it came to movies and pop culture. “You guys are living every nerd on the planet’s dream of being up here, working and living in space and you have never even seen the classics.  It’s tragic!”

 

Rush cut him off before he could get wound up and go off on a wild tangent.  “The reason why Destiny had no knowledge of this star system is that it was placed there after the gate-seeding ships had passed through.”

 

Young rounded on him, tearing his eyes away from the footage on the display.  “Wait—you’re telling me they built the _star_ too?”

 

Rush shrugged.  “Looks that way.”

 

“That would make them the number one all-time advanced civilization,” Eli murmured, stunned.

 

“That would be quite the understatement, Eli,” Belle murmured.  “So what do we do about this?”

 

“We send a team back down there,” he suggested.  “Our orbit has been refined.  It’s going to be four weeks, two days, seven hours before we jump back to FTL.  I’m proposing we take advantage of the wait.”

 

“I agree, Everett.  You’ve seen firsthand the quality of food and water the team brought back.  It would only be to our benefit to take advantage,” Belle said.

 

“But I thought you said we were almost out of shuttle range,” Young said, motioning towards the display.

 

“We are.  But…” Rush pulled up the image of their trajectory around the star in relation to the planet on the display.  “…we’re going to swing back into range once we circle the star before we jump into FTL.  We send a team down now, pick them back up in a month’s time loaded with supplies.”  He removed his hand from the console, pressing it to his chest as another wave of pain washed over him.  He hated to give in to the weakness in front of the others, but it couldn’t be helped at the moment.

 

Scott seemed more than excited by the prospect of spending the next month in the fresh air and sunshine awaiting them on the planet.  “If we time it right on the return, we could take two, maybe three trips.”

 

“We have three hours left before we’re out of shuttle range.  If we’re going to do this, we have to do it quickly,” Rush said, slowly sipping his tea.  He smacked his lips together and winced.  What was that bitter aftertaste at the back of his tongue?  He glanced over at Belle suspiciously, but she was listening to Eli.

 

“Ok, ok, just to say this out loud…assuming that this star and this planet were created by the most incredibly advanced aliens ever, maybe they don’t want anyone messing around with it.”

 

“We need the food and medicine,” Young argued.

 

“I agree,” Rush said, pinching the bridge of his nose and squinching his eyes closed to help clear the fog from his mind.  “The gains outweigh the risks.”

 

“Do they?  We’re ‘o’ for three on close encounters of the third kind.  What makes you think that these guys are gonna be any different?” he protested.  “Because our last encounter ranked about a ten on my weird shit-o-meter!”

 

Belle snorted a laugh as she wrapped her arm around Rush and scooted closer to him, holding him tightly as he nuzzled into the crook of her neck.

 

“I’m not sending anyone down there without protection, Eli,” Young assured him, already going over in his mind who he wanted to send along on the mission.  “And remember, Eli, everything we do out here is a risk.”

 

“Um…what’s wrong with Dr. Rush?  Did he fall asleep on you?” Eli asked, coming out from behind his console to get a better look.

 

Belle ducked her head, a sheepish grin curving her rosebud mouth.  “I may have slipped him a mild sedative in his tea.”

 

Young snickered behind his hand.  “Well, that’s one way to get him to rest.”

 

“I just didn’t want to have to fight with him to get him to take a break.  His three hours were up fifteen minutes ago and really…did he look as though he were ready to return to his quarters?”

 

Eli arched a brow at her.  “He’s going to be so pissed at you.”

 

“Yeah, well, it won’t be the first time and it certainly won’t be the last,” she admitted ruefully.

 

“Eli, Scott, give Belle a hand with Dr. Rush,” Young said as he strode towards the door.  “I’m going to speak with Greer and assemble a team.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Rush opened his eyes to darkness and for a moment panic set in.  He didn’t know where he was or how he’d gotten there.  His mouth tasted like a bloody sewer and the pain in his chest rivaled that of the pounding behind his eyes.  What the hell?  He moved to sit up, to find a light to help him identify his surroundings when he felt Belle’s warm weight pressed into his side, her head on the pillow next to him and her arm draped over the flat plane of his stomach.  His bare stomach, he realized.  Where were his clothes?  He lifted to duvet to find himself clad only in his black boxers.

 

The last thing he remembered, he’d been talking to Eli and the colonel about the new planet and drinking tea…Belle had brought…him.  _Fuck!!_   The sneaky minx had drugged him.  He glanced down at his left arm to the lighted dial of his watch and groaned.  Twelve hours had passed since he’d been in the control room. 

 

Soft lips brushed against his naked shoulder and a sleeply sigh met his ears.  “Go back to sleep.  It’s still early.”

 

“You drugged me,” he stated in a flat tone, his body stiff with affront.

 

“Did you sleep well?” she asked innocently as she began to rub soothing circles over his smooth skin.

 

“You. Drugged. Me.”  His voice was steadily rising in his ire.  Of all the things she could have done to him, this was something he’d never expected.

 

“You needed to rest,” she said, attempting to explain her actions.  “You were in pain and in no physical state to be working.  So yes, instead of arguing and causing you more distress, I drugged your tea.”

 

He gaped at her, his face illuminated only by the faint blue glow of the FTL lights shining through the porthole.  He really shouldn’t be surprised that she’d admitted her folly.  She’d never been one to lie to him…something he valued more than anything, her honesty.  And how could he fault her for it when she’d been looking out for his best interests.  He knew she was worried about him and he was letting his obsession with his work once again take precedence over his health.

 

“Are you terribly angry with me?” she murmured, raising up on her elbow to peer down into his face. 

 

“Extremely,” he said, though there was no real heat in his tone.

 

Belle leaned over and brushed her lips to his.  “I love you, Nicholas,” she whispered as she pulled away to press her brow to his, grateful that he hadn’t started yelling at her.  She was more than capable of holding her own with him, but it would be more of a detriment at this point…one she had no wish to be a part of.

 

His heart fluttered as it did every time she professed her love for him.  He knew he’d never tire of hearing the words spill from her sweet lips.  “I love you too, _mo chroí_ , but next time give me a little warning? I suppose TJ was in on your little plan?”

 

“Naturally.  And if your hip is a little sore today, it’s because she also gave you another dose of antibiotics to stave off infection.  She said your incision is clean and beginning to heal quite nicely, but you have to take it easy.  Now that she’s gone with the away team, she’s not here to sew you back up should you pop your stitches.  I can do sutures, but it’s been a long time and they’re not as pretty as the one’s TJ is able to do.”

 

Rush grunted in pain as he pulled out of her embrace and sat up on the edge of the bed.  He reached for the small container of pain relieving powder and used his finger to spoon a small amount into his mouth, chasing the bitter substance with water from a canteen.    He raked his hand through his shaggy hair and sighed before glancing back at her over his shoulder.

 

“The shuttle?  Did they make it down to the planet without any problems?” he asked, rising to go in search of clean clothes.

 

“They didn’t have any problems at all.  Chloe, Greer, Scott, TJ, Volker, Kane, Dunning, Morrison and about nine others went down,” she said, stretching languidly to remove the kinks from her muscles.  “Hard to believe they’ll be gone an entire month.”

 

She rose and stopped him before he could button up the white shirt he’d pulled on, leading him over to the bed and making him sit so she could check his incision and replace the soiled bandage.  “Did they make contact before Destiny was out of range?” he asked, hissing as the bandage pulled at his stitches.

 

“Sorry,” she apologized, smiling as she pressed a kiss to the left of his wound near his heart.  “And yes, the colonel took care of it.”  She fetched his boots and helped him into them as he worked on the buttons of his shirt.

 

He waited for her to pull on her jeans and the blue tunic style top she’d been wearing when she’d come aboard.  She slipped her feet into her sandals and held her hand out to him.  “What of the damaged shuttle? Have Brody and Park made any progress?” he asked, slipping his arm about her shoulders as they left their quarters.

 

“I don’t know, but they still have time.  Hopefully they can have it flight worthy before the month is out.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Colonel Young walked into the damaged shuttle where Brody and Park were working and yawned, wishing he’d been able to grab more than three hours of sleep in the night.  He didn’t like it that TJ had joined the team on the planet, but without telling her why he hadn’t wanted her to go, he couldn’t have made her stay.  Things were only getting more complicated between them and he had no idea how to fix it.  How could he be honest with her? Apologize to her for ending things between them when he was still legally married to Emily?  Even if he ended things with his wife, there was no guarantee TJ would want to pick up where they left off and he was of the firm belief that he didn’t deserve either of them.

 

He pushed his troubling thoughts aside as Park turned and offered him a bright smile.  “How’s it going?” he asked, leaning against the central support bar.

 

“Terrible,” Brody groaned.

 

“Great!” Lisa intoned, her smile never faltering.

 

Everett arched a brow.  “Well, which is it?”

 

Brody rolled his eyes at his exuberant assistant and her unfailing optimism.  “Propulsion’s almost completely shot.  It might be able to get to the point where we can fly down to the planet, but there’s no way it’s going to have enough power to get back up here, so there’s that.  We’re making some progress on navigation…we can turn left, but not right, or up or down.”

 

Young nodded and scrubbed a hand over his face before he turned his attention to Lisa.  “Ok, so why did you say ‘great’?”

 

“We can turn left,” she chirped happily.  Even a little progress was good progress in her opinion.

 

The colonel opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted as his radio squawked in greeting.  “Colonel Young?”

 

Young cast Lisa a glance, trying to work out in his head as to whether she’s terminally happy or a raving lunatic as he pulled the radio from his belt.  “Go ahead, Rush.”

 

Rush’s voice still held a tinge of pain that was easily recognizable through the link and Young wondered how Belle had managed to keep him away from the control room for so long.  “While Destiny's engines are offline, I'd like to use the extra power to strengthen the shield, maybe explore some damaged areas in the ship, and possibly make some repairs.”

  
“Reclaim some real estate.”  
  
“Exactly,” the scientist said.  
  
Everett knew it must have chafed him greatly to ask for permission and decided to go easy on him.  “You go ahead.  I'll have Lieutenant James put a team together.”  
  
Rush signed off and Young returned his radio to his belt as he focused his attention on Brody and Park once more.  “You two, keep at it.  You have a month to get this thing to fly to and from that planet and do more than make a left turn.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle squealed with delight as James and her team opened up another section, the doors whooshing open to reveal an entire bay filled with Ancient crates.  Her fingers itched to open them and explore the contents as she moved down the first row.

 

Vanessa laid a hand on her shoulder, halting her progress with a worried frown.  “Belle, maybe we should wait.  What if there’s something dangerous in those things.”

 

“Eli, Chloe and I have been through dozens of Ancient crates since we’ve come aboard and the contents have always been useful,” Belle tried to explain.  “If it makes you feel better, I’ll call my Nicholas down here to oversee this project.  Then when he collapses from the strain…he _is_ still recovering from surgery…you can pack him back to the infirmary.”

 

Vanessa winced at the very thought.  “Point taken.”  She lifted the radio from her belt and called for the colonel instead, who gave his permission to explore and to call if they found anything interesting.

 

An hour later, they’d found more than enough items of interest.  “I found seeds!!!” Rivers called, excitement lacing his voice.  “Tomatoes, beets, green beans, crowder peas…” he rattled off.  “The hydroponics team is going to go nuts when they find out!”

 

“We’re going to have to find a bigger space,” Belle groaned.  The lab we’re using is never going to hold it all.”

 

“There’s sheet metal over here,” Rennie yelled, his voice echoing through the cavernous bay.  “There are like ten crates filled with the stuff.  You think we might be able to patch up some of the holes in the hull?”

 

Belle pulled a notepad from the back pocket of her jeans and began jotting down a list of the things they’d found.  “Rush is going to be able to tell us more, but I’m pretty sure he’ll want to have Brody get that started right away.”

 

When she was done, she began on the second row of crates, having to get Vanessa’s help on a particularly stubborn one.  “Um, Belle, what the hell is that supposed to be?”

 

“Call the colonel,” she said, retrieving her own radio to call for Rush.  This was something he had to see for himself.

 

“What the hell _is_ it?” Young asked twenty minutes later when he finally located the team in the new section of the ship.  He shined his flashlight down into the crate, the beam illuminating the large metal device inside.

 

Rush leaned heavily on Belle, one hand pressed to his chest.  “I don’t know yet,” he wheezed, slightly out of breath due to the long trek from the control room.

 

“It looks like a robot,” Vanessa said, her head tilted to the side as she studied it.

 

“Figure it out,” Everett said, turning on his heel to return to the gate room.

 

Rush regarded him through narrowed eyes, his brow puckered in a frown.  “Oh, yeah, no problem—once I’ve attended to the other hundred things on my list.”

 

“You can always put somebody else on it,” Everett suggested.

 

The doctor snorted.  “I’m not going to have anyone _touch_ this thing without me present.  I may be able to get to it next weekend.”

 

“We’re going on leave next weekend,” Belle reminded him.  “Perhaps we could delay that and—“

 

“No,” Everett interrupted.  “You’re already scheduled to switch with Drs. Jackson and Mehta Saturday morning.  There will be no delays.”

 

Rush cursed violently under his breath, aggravated and in pain, but he let Belle wrap her arm about his waist to help him back to the control room.  Vanessa and her team closed up the crate housing the robot and sealed the doors to the room until more could be done with the veritable treasures inside.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Rush made his way to the communications lab a week later, under his own steam.  Breathing was easier and the pain had decreased to a bearable degree.  He only hoped Daniel had the same tolerance for pain he did.  “I still think this is a bloody waste of time,” he grumbled as he sat down in the chair next to Belle.

 

“I do too, Nicholas, but Jack insisted,” Belle said irritably, no happier than Rush was to be subjected to this.  She didn’t want to return to Earth and she most assuredly didn’t want her consciousness taking up residence in a strange body.  At least she somewhat knew the doctor she’d be switching with.

 

Corporal Barnes nodded at them both as she switched on the plate.  “Anytime you’re ready, Dr. Rush, Belle.”

 

“Can I just say again for the record that I _really really_ don’t want to do this,” Belle whimpered slightly. 

 

Rush took her left hand in his right and brought it to his lips, pressing a soft kiss to her fingertips.  “It will be fine, Belle.  Don’t be frightened.”

 

She lifted the stone in her hand as he let go to do the same and gently placed it on the plate.  It felt as though the air were too thick and too thin all at the same time, compressing and retracting at will.  She felt heavy and light and back again.  “Dr. Rush? Miss French?”

 

Belle’s eyes snapped open, her lashes fluttering open to see the blue USAF uniform and a smile on the man before her.  “Who’re you?” she asked, wincing at the unfamiliar voice issuing from her mouth.

 

“Major Peterson, at your service.  I’ll be your escort while you’re here,” he said warmly.

 

She glanced to her right and her mouth fell open to see Rush’s familiar condescending smirk on Daniel Jackson’s face.  Oh this was just too insane.  “Nicholas?”

 

“Major, is our visitor here?” he asked, winking at her as he rose to his feet.

 

Belle narrowed her eyes on him as she rose unsteadily to her feet.  Why did he have to seem so sure about himself in a body much larger than his own?  He acted as if he wore other people’s bodies on a weekly basis.  And what bloody visitor was he referring to?

 

“She’s waiting for you in the conference room and has already been briefed on the situation.  She seemed a bit overwhelmed by everything, but after General O’Neil spoke with her, she seemed to be more at ease,” Peterson explained as he opened the door to the communications lab to lead them out.

 

Rush linked his fingers with hers and followed, a rather sneaky smile on his borrowed face.  What she wouldn’t give for a Jolly Rancher right now.  She made mental note to stop for some immediately upon leaving HWC for whatever Rush wished to do on their down time.  Her jaw dropped as she entered the conference room behind Rush and encountered Dr. Verrett.

 

“Professor…um…Dr. Verrett?  What are you—“

 

The woman regarded her with raised eyebrows, her long blonde hair pulled back in a severe bun.  “Hello, Belle,” the woman smiled and gestured to a seat on the other side of the conference table.  “I have to say you’re not looking yourself at all.”

 

Belle laughed for the first time since she’d set out on this dubious mission to relax and gratefully dropped down into the chair.  “What are you doing here?  I didn’t know you were even familiar with the gate program.”

 

Rush sat down beside her and leaned back, crossing his ankle over his knee as he watched her.  “Thank you so much for coming, Doctor.”

 

“I was thrilled to help, Dr. Rush.  She’s put in too much work not to complete her studies,” the professor of astrophysics proclaimed, sliding a packet of papers across the table to Belle.   She gave Belle a no nonsense look, her cool gray eyes serious.  “General O’Neil tells me you are already excelling in your field of study.”

 

“Yes, ma’am,” Belle answered, somewhat dazed to be sitting across the table from her old quantum physics professor.  “It’s quite extensive.  Nothing like I expected when I completed my masters.”

 

“Well, there are several things that need to be addressed to finish out your doctorate,” the woman explained.  “Since it isn’t feasible to finish out the last six months in a classroom, being you’re on the other side of the universe, you will sit for your final three exams and present the final draft of your thesis.”

 

Belle’s heart sped as the full impact of this opportunity settled on her.  Excitement coursed through her all to come crashing down when she realized, “Nicholas, my thesis is on my flash drive aboard Destiny.  Four years and six drafts of work and it’s inaccessible.”  She could have cried.

 

Dr. Verrett arched a dubious brow.  “Don’t you have another copy here?”

 

“No,” she wailed.  “I had HWC close up my apartment and put my belongings in storage when it seemed we wouldn’t be coming back anytime soon.  Everything of importance is with me on Destiny.”

 

“Except…” Nicholas said, holding out his hand towards the major.  Peterson stepped forward and slipped a flash into Rush’s hand which he proudly held out for her to take.  “The copy you made and left in my office at Berkeley.  Which was then packed up and moved to the office in my home.  I had someone retrieve it for us days ago.”

 

“Oh, Nicholas…” Tears shone in her dark eyes, so unlike her own, as she threw her arms about him and buried her face in his neck.  “You planned this all along and I never guessed.  Thank you,” she whispered, squeezing tighter.

 

He chuckled against her ear and returned her embrace for a moment before prying her loose.  It was difficult for him to come into such close proximity with a woman who wasn’t actually his Belle.  It made him feel as though he were being unfaithful regardless of whose consciousness resided within.

 

“Alright,” he said, his voice gruff with emotion as he watched her eyes light with happiness…knowing he was the cause.  “I’ll leave you to it.  I want to speak with McKay while I’m here.”  He glanced up at Peterson.  “He’s here I take it, as per my request?”

 

“I believe he’s in with the general now, who also wants to speak with you.”

 

“Fine.”  He dropped a kiss to Belle’s brow as he rose to his feet.  “I’ll see you later, _mo stór_.  Work hard.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

It took the better part of four days for Belle to complete the final requirements for her doctorate.  Rush chafed at the delay, but if it would help her realize one of her dreams, he felt he could sacrifice the time away from Destiny to remain at her side.  He felt a bit guilty for leaving Daniel in his pain ridden form for the extra time, but it was a relief to be able to breathe easier.

 

He used the time away from Belle to reconnect with his former colleagues, sharing some of his new discoveries with them.  Rodney McKay was worse than a deer tick, sticking to his side and pumping him for the minutest details, but it felt nice to be able to share his experiences and the fascinating workings of the Ancient star ship.  He used some of his free time to work through some of the calculations he’d been trying to decipher before taking leave and touching base with several scientists with questions about the neural chair interface.  He was hopeful upon his return to Destiny that he’d be able to put the finishing touches on the program he and Belle and Eli had been working on.  Soon, he’d have access to the ship’s main systems and life would get a lot easier.  Just the thought of finally accessing the bridge brought him untold delight.

 

They hadn’t spent much time away from HWC over the last four days, and had seen little of what the city had to offer, but Rush was determined to take her out for a nice dinner to celebrate the end of her testing.  He wanted her to relax and enjoy herself before returning to Destiny in the morning.

 

Rush had made them a reservation at one of Belle’s favorite restaurants on the harbor that overlooked the Potomac River.  The Sequoia was considered the jewel of Washington Harbor and one that Belle had insisted on dragging him to on more than one occasion when they’d begun the Icarus project.  She’d missed it greatly once they’d moved to Icarus and had always been one of the first places she wanted to go when they’d taken leave.  Even he had to admit the food and atmosphere were pleasant coupled with the panoramic view of the Kennedy Center, the Watergate, Memorial and Key Bridges and the flotilla of boats dotting the river.

 

“Nicholas, this is lovely,” she murmured as he pulled out her chair for her.  Their table was situated near the large windows overlooking the harbor and her eyes were instantly drawn to the view, the sky streaked with pink and purple as the last rays of the sun disappeared from the horizon.

 

He took his seat opposite her, the small smirk adorning his lips looking out of place on his borrowed face.  “I know how much you love it here and I thought we should celebrate.”

 

Belle smiled brightly at their server as she went over the menu ordering all her favorites.  She started with the jumbo shrimp cocktail, something she never failed to order at every visit, followed by the Rohan Duck Breast with sweet corn flan, roasted Brussel sprouts and a late vintage port sauce.  Rush ordered the Prosciutto di Parma _,_ and the Painted Hills Farms NY Strip Steak served with wild mushrooms  & roasted fingerling potato ragout with compound butter.  For good measure he threw in an order for the jumbo lump crab cake served with corn relish and Sriracha mayo for them to share.  It did surprise him, however, when she ordered sweet iced tea to drink.

 

“Wouldn’t you prefer a nice white wine with dinner?” he asked, puzzled.

 

“Under normal circumstances, yes, but you don’t realize how much I’ve missed a good glass of sweet tea,” she said with a small smile.  “Tell me, darling, how much coffee have you drunk since we arrived?”

 

He chuckled.  “Probably enough to keep Daniel buzzing for at least a week,” he admitted, his nose wrinkling with amusement.  “I’m going to miss it when we go home tomorrow.”

 

“And the food.  I’d forgotten what it was like to be able to just run out for a cheeseburger and chili fries,” she said, her face going slack with pleasure as she thought about her lunch from earlier in the day.

 

“It makes me wonder how you stayed so trim eating all that junk.”

 

“Because I like to run, Nicholas.  I would burn it off before it had time to settle on my hips,” she retorted playfully.  “Unlike you who hates to leave the lab for mundane things such as eating and sleeping.”

 

His hand covered hers where it rested on the table and he stroked his thumb lightly over her knuckles.  “Do you remember the last time we were here?”

 

“How could I forget when you spilled wine all over my printouts,” she snorted.  “It put you in a nasty mood for the remainder of the day.”

 

Rush turned her hand over in his, tracing the delicate lines on her palm with his finger as he smiled warmly at her.  “I wasn’t referring to our work, Belle.  No, I was thinking of the lovely blue dress you wore to tempt my attentions away from work.”

 

A delightful shiver tripped up her spine, though from the delicious sensations evoked from his touch or the heat emanating from his warm brown eyes, she wasn’t sure.  “You remembered what I was wearing?” she asked in a surprised whisper.

 

“We sat outside on the patio.  You wanted to breathe in the fresh air while we worked through lunch, though we didn’t get much done with you distracting me every time I looked up to see the way your breasts peeked just over your bodice.”  He lifted her hand to his lips and dropped a kiss to her palm.  “I wanted you so much, Belle.”

 

Belle clamped down on her lower lip to still its trembling, warmth spreading in her belly at his softly whispered words.  “Why didn’t you say anything?”

 

He released her hand as their server brought the first course and set it before them on the richly appointed table, holding his silence until they’d been left alone once more.  “And how was I to know you’d want to get involved with a crotchety old scientist twenty years older than yourself?”

 

She dug into her appetizer with relish, her mind whirling with this new information.  She was thankful for the distraction as she thought of how to answer.  “I’ve always wanted you, Nicholas,” she whispered, “I just didn’t think we were suited.  Granted, Gloria had been gone for three years, but I knew how much you loved her.  That’s not something easily forgotten.  I know,” she admitted ruefully, thinking of her own experiences with losing her own love.  “How was I to know you could fall in love with me?”

 

“How could I not?”  He paused again as the server came to whisk away their empty dishes and replace them with the main course.  “You’re perfect.”

 

Belle snorted as she picked up her glass.  “Hardly, but I’m glad you think so.”  She stared down at her dinner, concentrating on the rich food before her rather than the pleasure caused by his fervent speech.

 

Rush watched her steadily throughout the meal, changing the subject from their relationship to mundane things and their work on Destiny.  It wasn’t until they’d left the restaurant and were walking along the boardwalk on their way back to the hotel that he brought it up again.  “Do you think we’d have ever admitted our feelings for one another if we hadn’t wound up on Destiny?”

“Who’s to say?” she shrugged, pressing closer to his side as the cool autumn breeze cut through her light cardigan.  “I think it may have taken us longer, but yes, I’d like to think so.  You were so focused on our work and I was concentrating on helping you as well as working on my degree, but our feelings for one another were still there.”  She smiled up at him, a rosy blush settling in her cheeks.

 

“If the Lucian Alliance hadn’t attacked Icarus, we’d probably still be up there muddling through our research,” he said, leading her past the doorman and to the elevator.

 

“It’s better this way.”

 

“What do you mean by that?” he asked, his brow drawn in bewilderment.  “You don’t think it would have been better to be able to send the away team to collect data for us to study.  An open supply line would have been ideal where the team wouldn’t have to be concerned about where their next meal was coming from.”

 

She tilted her head to the side as they paused outside of their suite so he could slip the keycard into the lock.  “You wouldn’t have been happy.  Telford had already had your name withdrawn from the team that would be going on this mission.”  She laughed as he called the colonel some names she wouldn’t care to repeat.  “I don’t think you would have been happy there on the base analyzing data.  This way, you’re such an integral part of the mission.  You have a hands on approach that seems to satisfy this need that burns within you.”

 

He chuckled as he drew her into his arms and slowly began backing towards the bedroom.  “You know me so well.”  He closed his eyes as he lowered his head to brush his lips to hers.  If he kept them closed, he could concentrate on the image of her true self in his mind and forget for a while that she wasn’t herself.

 

Unfortunately, Belle wasn’t able to do the same.  “Nicholas, darling, we can’t.”

 

“Why not?” he groaned.  “Belle, we haven’t made love since the night we escaped from the Nakai.  And what with my surgery and work and coming here, we’ve had little time to reconnect.”

 

She wrapped her arms about his neck and leaned into his embrace as she nuzzled against his throat.  “I know, and I miss our closeness every bit as much as you do, but I just can’t bring myself to kiss Daniel.  I know it’s you in there, Nicholas, but you’re Daniel on the outside.”

 

“Close your eyes and you won’t notice,” he murmured, leaning down to nip at her ear.

 

“Nicholas, no.  It’s not the same,” she insisted, pulling out of his embrace and turning to the full length mirror in the corner of the room.  “It’s not just sight, but touch.  When I close my eyes and touch you, I know the texture of _your_ skin, the feel of _your_ hair slipping through my fingers, the rasp of your beard against my skin.  This,” she said, gesturing to their reflection, “is not us.  Can’t you understand?”

 

He sighed as he pulled off his jacket and draped it over the back of a chair.  “Yes, _mo ghrá,_ I do.  I have to focus really hard to be able to just hold you, so I do understand your reservations.”

 

She raised up on her tip toes to kiss his cheek and then disappeared into the bathroom to change into her pajamas.  “Why don’t you see what’s on Netflix, eh?”

 

Rush grumbled and changed into a pair of cotton sleeping pants before slipping under the blankets and grabbing the remote.  At least she was still willing to sleep in the same bed with him.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Young was having his own problems as he checked in with Park and Brody to determine whether or not the shuttle would be ready in time.

 

“The shuttle can fly, it can now go both left and right and up and down,” Park reported enthusiastically, pleased with the repairs they’d made so far.

 

“But like I said before, too many problems with propulsion.  Fact is, we may never be able to fully repair it,” Brody said, shaking his head.

 

Young sighed wearily.  “Get as many people on it as you need, but I need this shuttle operational before it’s time to rendezvous with our people.  I want to make as many trips down to the planet as possible to secure supplies.  We never know when we might have a chance like this again.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Colonel Young was waiting for them the next morning as Rush and Belle returned to their own bodies.  “Welcome back, you two.  How’d it go?” he asked before they could acclimate themselves to the change.

 

Rush groaned and pressed a palm to his chest.  “Christ,” he hissed, bending at the waist as a wave of pain and sensation assailed him.  “What the hell has Daniel been doing?  Did he not keep up with the pain medication I left?”

 

Belle knelt at his side and rubbed soothing circles over his back, her right hand resting on his knee.  “It’s probably a shock to your system because you’ve been pain free for nearly a week.  It will ease.”

 

He took the cup of water she poured for him and drank it slowly.  “Colonel, was Daniel pleased with his visit?  I hated to switch with him and leave him in pain for the duration, but it unfortunately couldn’t be helped.”

 

“He understood, Rush.  Eli kept him busy, showing him around and walking him through some of your research,” Everett said, filling him in.  “How did your little project go at HWC?” he asked, grinning over at Belle.

 

Belle’s gaze swung between the two.  “You told him?  He knew and yet you told me nothing?”

 

Rush grinned cheekily at her.  “It was a surprise,” he stated simply as if that were explanation enough.

 

“I have to admit, it was that,” she agreed, rising also as he got to his feet.

 

“Well, if you’ll excuse us, Colonel, I’m sure there’s an endless amount of work to do,” Rush said, nodding in his direction as he started for the door.

 

“Good to have you back.  Both of you.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

She was going to be the death of him.  He didn’t know how she’d even done it, but somehow she’d talked him into allowing her to don one of the spacesuits to help Young’s team begin repairing the dome.  His Belle was bloody insane…or a daredevil who lacked fear…and it was giving him chest pains.  As if he didn’t have enough of that as he continued to heal from surgery.  If she got too close to the reinforced shield… If there happened to be toxic fumes to be ignited by the constant spark of the welding machine… if, if, IF!!!  She was going to give him an ulcer at the very least.

 

“Rush, come in,” his radio squawked.  “This is Young.  I need you to come to my office… _now_.”

 

“Fuck!  ELI!!”  the boy’s head popped up, his eyes wide with surprise at the scientists tone.  “Get over here and watch this feed.  I want to know the moment they’re done in there.”

 

He stormed out of the room, making sure to take his radio with him and prowled the corridor all the way to the colonel’s quarters.  “This had best be important,” he snarled, crossing his arms over his chest as he belligerently stared at the man.  He didn’t spare a glance for Camille who was already seated on the sofa.

 

“Scott radioed.  He says there are people wishing to stay behind on the planet.  Eleven people to be exact!” the colonel sneered as he paced the confines of the chamber.

 

“Eleven?” Rush asked in alarm.

 

Young nodded, his head bobbing vigorously.  “Including some of my own people.  And Scott, he had the nerve to ask me to fly him back down to the planet after he droped off the ones returning to the ship.”

 

“Well, look, I can understand some of them wanting to stay, but Lt Scott and TJ…” the IOA representative murmured, shaking her head in denial.

 

“He says he feels an obligation to help the people survive down there.”

 

“What are you going to do?” Camille questioned.

 

“What am I going to do?” he mimicked sarcastically.  “I’m going to make sure they all stay down there, that’s for damned sure.  What do you think, Camille?!  I’m going to make them return to Destiny.”

 

“No, you _cannot_ force them to come back!”

 

Rush barely restrained himself from rolling his eyes at the woman.  “Oh, I think he can.”

 

Camille glared at him, thankful his little assistant hadn’t accompanied him to the meeting.  Belle always had an opinion and ninety nine percent of the time it differed from her own.

 

“We’re going to lose more people through attrition aboard this ship.  We simply cannot afford to shed that many people at one time,” Rush said, trying to reason with them both.

 

Camille set her ever present clipboard on the table and gaped at him in disbelief.  “So what do you expect him to do, Nicholas? Bring them back at gunpoint?”

 

“Well, if it comes to that, yes!”  He turned his focus to the colonel.  “You allow Lt Scott to return with those who want to come back to Destiny, then send down a military detail and round up the rest.”

 

The colonel glowered fiercely at him.  “Oh, that’s great, Rush, coming from you.  First you wanna kick the military out, and now you want us rounding people up at gunpoint.”

 

Camille balked.  “Colonel, those people have the right to make their own decisions about their future.”

 

He regarded her though dark troubled eyes.  “Not all of them.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Young stalked down the corridor, Rush, Belle and Brody dogging his heels as he made his way to the shuttle.  Rush was the most vocal in his objections, as usual.  “Have you gone mad?”

 

Young ran a hand through his hair in exasperation as he stopped in the middle of the corridor.  “Ah, man, look.  I really don’t want to argue with you.”

 

“You’re really letting them stay?” Belle asked incredulously. 

 

The colonel leveled her with a stare.  The poor girl hadn’t even had time to change, merely peeling off the top of the spacesuit and leaving her in her t-shirt and suspenders, before Rush had dragged her off to the shuttle bay.  “Not all of them, Miss French.”

 

“ _And_ you’re giving them a shuttle?” Rush fumed, working himself up into a fine rage.

 

“The _damaged_ shuttle.”

 

“It’s not damaged anymore,” he argued.

 

Brody shifted uncomfortably as the colonel dragged him into the argument.  “Didn’t you say that the shuttle may never be fully functional?”

 

Before he could answer, Rush jumped back into the fray.  “We may need the shuttle for any number of reasons.”

 

“I am not going to leave those people down there with nothing, Rush!”

 

“You cannot let them stay, Colonel!”

 

“Nicholas, please.  He’s made up his mind so let it go,” Belle said softly, resting her hand on his nape.  The heat seemed to drain away at her touch, but it didn’t mean he agreed with the man.

 

Brody stopped him before he could enter the shuttle.  “Colonel, there are still some issues as to whether it can hold up through atmospheric entry.  You could be risking your life trying to take it down to the planet.”

 

Young shook his head.  “Well, we’re about to find out.”  With that, he entered the shuttle and closed the bay doors.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Nicholas sat at the small table in his quarters, whittling some soapstone they’d found on the planet into what was beginning to resemble chess pieces.  He knew how much Belle enjoyed the game and remembered fondly the nights they’d spent playing in the lab when their work would hit a standstill.  He smiled warmly at her as she returned to their quarters, fresh out of the shower.  Warmth spread through his chest when he noticed she was wearing his white shirt again paired with a pair of silky black shorts she’d found in the crates left by the Ancients.  She wore the damn thing more than he did.

 

She stretched out on the bed, her feet dangling over the edge, and rested her head on her folded arms as she watched him work.  “You seem to be making some progress.”

 

“It’s relaxing and besides, I like working with my hands,” he said with a wicked grin.  “Why’d you leave the door open?  Are you feeling claustrophobic again?” he asked.  She’d been having issues even with the larger spaces on Destiny after their sojourn with the aliens.

 

She yawned.  “Not really.  Just don’t want to be closed in, I guess.  They weren’t happy about coming back, Nicholas.  Chloe and Scott seem to be back on speaking terms, but there’s still a lot of work ahead of them if they’re going to try to repair their relationship.  And I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen TJ so depressed.”

 

“They spent a month down on that planet in the fresh air and sunshine.  Of course they’re going to be hesitant about being cooped up on a starship again,” he explained.  “At least they brought back an abundance of supplies.  I’m still stuffed from dinner.”

 

“You didn’t touch the salad though.  It would serve you well to eat some greens, darling,” she admonished lightly.  Her voice was already beginning to slur with sleep.

 

Colonel Young poked his head around the open door, eyebrows raised in question, but he relaxed as Rush gestured for him to come in.  He came to stand next to the table, curiously eyeing the pieces Rush was working on.

 

Nicholas sighed.  “Well, as predicted, we’ve corrected our course and jumped back into FTL.”

 

“I’m sorry you didn’t get your wish, though,” Everett said with a rueful grin.

 

Rush cast him a puzzled frown.  “What wish was that?”

 

“Aliens advanced enough that they could build a star system—finally someone you could have a decent conversation with.”

 

The scientist’s gaze moved over Belle where she slumbered peacefully across the end of the bed.  “That’s why I have her,” he murmured contentedly.

 

Young gestured awkwardly to the chess pieces.  “I…um…I enjoy chess.”

 

Rush huffed a short laugh, recognizing the olive branch of peace the colonel was extending to him.  “I’ll tell you what, Colonel.  If you can beat my Belle at the game…then we’ll talk.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Well, I hope you all enjoyed this installment :D Thanks so much for reading. If it’s not too much, drop me a line and let me know if you liked it. Your comments feed the muse. Next week, Nicholas sits in the chair and Belle freaks out…until Chloe offers up a solution.
> 
> Another point of interest, if you haven’t read my friend xXSedationXx’s Rush/Chloe fic “Sensitivity”, you’re really missing out. It’s so awesome. It can be found on fanfiction.net and you really need to give it a read!!!


	14. Human

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: There is smut in the first part of this chapter. Just thought I’d warn you in case you wish to skip it. Also, there’s a good bit of stuff involving the team that gets stranded on the planet leading up to what happens in 01x15 Lost that I left out. I will be focusing on that in the next chapter. This chapter mainly focuses on what happens with the chair and discovering the code needed to unlock the core systems.

Belle jolted awake with a groan as Rush’s arms tightened around her.  He whimpered her name, burrowing his face deeper into her neck.  She knew it would only get worse if she didn’t try to put a stop to it.  She still experienced her own terror in the wee hours of the morning when her nightmares came to chase away her peace.  It had to be worse for him, though.  At least they hadn’t cut her open as they had done to him.  He refused to talk about it, though she knew he remembered.  When he would talk in his sleep, she was able to glean enough to know that he relived the horrors of having his chest cut open while he was lucid, the pain of having the transmitter inserted into his chest cavity and the searing agony of the laser as the Nakai cauterized the wound to seal it inside.

Rush had been forced to endure weeks of agony after TJ had removed it, but Belle had to wonder if the physical pain was anywhere near as debilitating as the nightmares that still plagued him.  “No!” he cried out, startling her from her melancholy thoughts.  “Don’t hurt her!  Belle!”

Her fingers found their way into his damp hair, her blunt nails scratching lightly against his scalp.  It usually soothed him back into a more restful sleep, as if somehow he knew she was safe from harm.  “Shh, it’s ok, Nicholas, I’m here,” she crooned softly, her free hand gently tracing over his spine.  “It’s ok, my love, I have you.”

She emitted a small squeak of alarm as he rolled onto his back, pulling her with him, his arms caging her against his chest.  Her eyes sought his in the faint blue glow that illuminated the room as she braced a hand against his chest.  His eyes rolled in a rapid rhythm behind his closed lids and she knew her soft words were useless when he was so deeply trapped in sleep.  It would be more harmful than good to roughly shake him from slumber, but if she hoped to get any more sleep of her own, she’d have to wake him regardless.

Belle nuzzled his ear with her nose, her lips caressing the flesh behind it as her tongue darted out for a taste of him.  “Nicholas,” she whispered, dragging her teeth over his skin.  The familiar heat that rose between them when they touched, curled low in her belly and she stopped, closing her eyes to relish the sensation.  Her leg slipped between his bare thighs and his sharp hipbone pressed against her core.  She moaned low in her throat as her lips trailed over his stubbled jaw, finding the pulse point that seemed to be a particularly hot spot of his.  She loved the feel of his skin beneath her hands, the way his body responded to her touch, the lightest of caresses making him arch into her to seek more of it.

His arms tightened around her again and he bucked against her in his sleep, his lips parting on a gasp.  “Belle…” he moaned, still trapped in his nightmare.  “Let me…let me see her!”  His chest heaved, his breath coming in ragged pants.  “Don’t take her from me!”

Tears stung her eyes as she glimpsed a little further into what he’d suffered.  She leaned over him, gently pressing her lips to his.  “Please, Nicholas, wake up,” she pleaded, her tongue gliding over his lower lip before drawing it into her mouth and sucking gently.  She adored his mouth, all too familiar with he could melt her with a simple smile and a soft kiss.  She could in fact, kiss him for hours without any desire to break free from his embrace.

His response was sluggish, but it was there, his tongue moving to meet hers as it slipped into his mouth.  She knew the moment he reached full wakefulness.  A sharp intake of breath, his body stiffening with alertness, his hands delving into her long unbound hair to curl painfully in the strands.

“It’s ok, I’m here.  I’m ok,” she whispered as recognition dawned in his eyes.  Fear was replaced by relief and that relief replaced by need as her hand splayed over his chest, her thumb lightly scratching over his nipple.  She searched his face, smiling slightly as she felt his back arch towards her, seeking more of her touch.  “Better?” she asked, her warm breath fanning over his lips.

He pulled her head down, his only answer as his lips crashed over hers, his tongue seeking out every erogenous zone in her mouth.  Her hand traced over his ribs, down the flat plane of his belly and toyed playfully at the waistband of his boxers before slipping down to cup him through the silky fabric.  “Fuck!” he groaned, thrusting up against her small hand at the contact.  “Please, _mo stór_.”

Rush untangled his hands from her hair, reaching for the dark gray tunic she wore, whipping it over her head and tossing it away.  It had been so long and he needed her so much.  He growled low in his throat as he pulled her back against his chest, rolling her beneath him as his lips sought out the sensitive flesh beneath her ear.  She keened, the sound going straight to his cock as she threw her leg over his hip, needing more friction as she rubbed against him.

“Don’t make me wait,” she breathed, reaching down to push his boxers over his hips.  Her cool hand made him jerk in reflex as it closed over his turgid shaft, giving a sharp tug.  “Need you…please, Nicholas,” she cried as his teeth scored the tendon in the crook of her neck where it met her shoulder.

His long fingers, clumsy in his haste, tore at her knickers, dragging them down her legs.  He smiled wolfishly as he ran his hands back up her thighs, his thumbs brushing against her damp curls.  Her eyes narrowed.  “Stop teasing me, Rush!  I need you in me.”  He claimed her lips again as he settled between her thighs, his tongue delving into her mouth as he thrust deeply into her.

She tore her mouth away from his, arching her back as he filled her.  Her nerve endings tingled with little jolts of electricity as he pulled out nearly all the way before plunging back in again.  Long slow deep thrusts meant to inflame and tease, building her pleasure in slow methodical strokes that made her want to scream.  His eyes locked with hers, fearing if he closed his eyes, she’d be taken from him again.

Belle pulled him down, nipping at his lower lip as her heels dug into the small of his back, urging him to go faster, harder. She recognized that look of desperation in his eyes, could feel the need rolling off of him. “I’m here, Nicholas.  No one is ever going to take me from you again.  I promise,” she purred, her hips rising to meet him.  “I love you.”  He buried his face against her neck as he wrapped an arm about her hips, tilting her up so that his pubic bone brushed her clit with every downward thrust.

Her body tensed, her nails digging sharply into his shoulders as her inner walls clasped him tightly, her climax hitting her hard.  Her teeth sank into his neck, her tongue laving over the wound as he pounded into her.  He threw his head back with a howl, his hips jerking spasmodically against hers, spilling himself in her tight sheath as her silken folds milked him of every drop.  His breathing was labored, his muscles the consistency of warm butter as he collapsed atop her.  She stroked her fingers through his damp hair, brushing the limp strands away from his closed eyes.  Slowly she lowered her legs from around his waist and allowed him to roll to his side to relieve her of his weight.

Rush pulled her tightly against his side, nuzzling into her neck.  “I love you, too, _mo chroí_ ,” he said in a ragged whisper.  “Did I hurt you?  I didn’t mean to be so rough.”

“I think we were due,” she snarked, reaching for a canteen from the bedside table and drinking deeply to soothe her parched throat.  She couldn’t have cared less if she carried bruises for the better part of a week.  It had been incredible and what they’d both needed.  “Here, drink some of this,” she urged, pressing the canteen into his hand.

When he was done, he gently grasped her hand, glancing at the lighted face of her watch.  He groaned, his head falling heavily onto her shoulder.  “We have three hours before shift.  I suppose it would be too much to ask to actually sleep through the night.”

He shivered and burrowed closer as she reached down to grab the duvet, pulling it up over them.  “You sleep more now than you did on Icarus.”

Rush chuckled softly against her neck as her hands gently kneaded his nape.  “That’s because I have such an attentive bed partner here on Destiny.”

Belle pinched him lightly, humming in disapproval.  “Oh is that it?”

“Let’s just say I have the perfect incentive to take better care of myself,” he murmured, pulling her down to kiss her thoroughly.  “You make me care about things other than my work.”

They fell silent, simply content to lie in each other’s arms until Belle couldn’t hold back any longer.  “Your nightmares are getting worse instead of better, Nicholas.  Would you like to talk about them?” she asked, hesitantly.  “It’s been easier to find rest since I talked to you about mine.”

He stiffened almost imperceptively and if she didn’t know his body so well, she wouldn’t have noticed.  He moved to draw away from her, but she held fast to his shoulders.  “Belle, no.  I don’t want to relive that when I’m awake, thank you.”

“Rush,” she said firmly and he winced.  He hated it when she reverted to calling him by his last name.  It was much more pleasurable to have her purr his given name in her sweet voice.  “You said something different tonight when you were talking in your sleep.”  She pressed her lips lightly to his crown and smoothed her hands over his back.  “Talk to me, darling.  Let me help you.”

“What did I say?” he asked, tightly scrunching his eyes closed against the images that flooded his mind.

“You were calling my name and said ‘let me see her’.  I was with you…there in that room…and I don’t remember you crying out for me,” she said, tears falling unchecked from her lashes.

He sighed, realizing he would have to tell her.  When she latched onto something she wanted, there was little chance of her giving up without a fight and that was the last thing he wanted to do right now.  He was warm and content, basking in the glow of her love and he didn’t want anything to spoil it for him.  “I remember…despite the drugs they pumped into me.”

He squeezed her hip gently, his thumb rubbing back and forth over her bare skin as he shuddered from the memory.  “My chest was on fire…I was strapped down to that table and it burned so badly…Belle,” he whimpered, his voice cracking as he tried to fight back the tears, the despair that enveloped him.  “You were in the chair and no matter how much I called for you…”

“It’s ok, Nicholas, I’ve got you,” she crooned.  “They’re gone and have no way to track us again.  You’re safe…we both are.”

“They were constantly in my head, probing my mind.  I didn’t know what was worse—that or the pain in my chest.  I was ok as long as I could see you, Belle, but…” he drew in a sharp ragged breath, his arm slipping around her back, pulling her closer until she nearly cried out in discomfort.  He held her as if he were lost at sea and she was the last piece of driftwood to keep him afloat.  “…they took you away.  I couldn’t get free from the clamps, so I started trying to block their mind probes.  I knew we’d never get away from them, but I…if I could prevent them from gaining information on Destiny, I had to try.”

She choked back a sob as he lifted his gaze to hers, tear bright and filled with every ounce of fear he’d experienced at the hands of the Nakai.  “Oh, Nicholas, I’m so sorry.”

He caught her tears on his thumb as he cupped her cheek in his palm.  “I didn’t know what they’d done to you.  I failed you, Belle.  I promised to protect you and I failed.”

“No!  No, darling, never,” she protested, shaking her head adamantly.  “We were in an impossible situation.  You would have done anything to free us…you _did_ free us in the end.  You did _not_ fail me.  Please stop thinking that.” She caught his lips with her own, sorry now that she’d made him relive the experience.  “Please, Nicholas.”

“I don’t know what I’d do…I can’t lose you, Belle.  I can’t do that again.”

“You won’t,” she vowed.  She sighed softly as she felt him begin to ease his grip, relaxing into her.  Perhaps by talking about it, he would begin to heal.  It would take time, but eventually they could heal together.

X*X*X*X*X

“You’re late, Miss Belle,” Greer greeted her, smiling lazily as she entered the gate room and tugged off her cardigan.  She kicked off her shoes and approached the mat where the marine master sergeant awaited her, a cocky sway to her hips as she smirked at him.

“Yeah, well, I had to make sure Rush didn’t need me for the rest of the afternoon before I could get away.”  She stepped onto the mat and bowed to her friend, her opponent, her teacher.  She knew he was still bitter over the attempted coup, but hopefully he would remain professional in their lessons.  “You’re not still angry with me are you?” she asked, assuming her stance, her left foot just a bit farther out than her right to bear her weight better.

“Nope,” he drawled, his lips popping on the p as he easily blocked the thrust of her right hand with his forearm, again with her left, all the while carefully avoiding her legs as she went through to motions he’d taught her.  “Not my fault you fell in love with the jerk.”

She dropped into a crouch, her right leg sweeping out to knock his feet from beneath him.  “Just so we’re good then,” she breathed out, rolling back to her feet as he avoided the maneuver.

“You’re out of practice, Miss Belle.”  He caught her left arm, pulling it behind her back.  She hissed at the slight pain and struck out with her right elbow, air whooshing past his lips as she caught him in the solar plexus.

“Really?” she grinned, breaking free of his grip and whirling out of his reach.  She moved away, her movements light and dancelike, before squaring her shoulders and moving in again, taking the offensive.  Fifteen tense minutes later, he had her pinned to the mat facedown, his knee between her shoulder blades.

“Yep,” he snarked, breathing heavily.  He wasn’t going to admit she hadn’t made it easy for him.  “Seriously out of practice.”

“I’ve been rather busy lately, Ronald.  Totally _not_ my fault,” she said, taking his hand as he helped her to her feet. She rubbed at the tenderness in her right shoulder.  “Thank you.  I really needed that.”

“Anytime, Miss Belle.  Maybe next time you can lay some of those aliens low before they get the drop on you,” he chuckled.

She shuddered, but masked it with a warm smile for her friend.  “Let’s hope there is no next time.  I—“

“Belle!” Brody called urgently, rushing into the gate room.  “You weren’t answering your radio…we…Rush…chair,” he stammered, trying desperately to catch his breath.

“Brody, take a deep breath.  Calm down and tell me what’s wrong.  What has Nicholas done now?  Wait!  Did you _run_ all the way from the control room?” she asked, her brows dipping low over her eyes as she frowned at the engineer.

“Rush is… in the… chair,” he gasped out, leaning over to brace his hands against his knees.

“Fuck!  The program isn’t ready,” she cried, racing from the gate room.  She left her shoes, cardigan and radio there next to the mat, her yoga pants and tank top clinging to her in places from perspiration, more than a few tendrils sticking to her damp brow from where they’d escaped her braid.  She paid no attention to any of it in her desperation to confront her lover before he did something they’d both regret.

She could hear Brody’s heavy footsteps pounding the metal floor behind her, but she didn’t stop.  People hurriedly got out of her way, calling out warnings to slow down and watch where she was going.  She could apologize later when her Nicholas’s life wasn’t in fucking danger.  Her momentum had her crashing into Young as he turned, his hands closing over her upper arms as she struggled to disentangle herself from him.

“What the hell is going on?  Who authorized—wait, nevermind—this is Rush we’re talking about.  I assume you had no part of this,” she seethed, turning her narrow-eyed glare on the colonel.

He released her and she stepped around him, kneeling beside the chair next to TJ.  “Of course not!  The bastard went behind my back, as usual, Miss French, and only when Eli and Brody were worried for his health did they think to tell me about it.”

She glared at Eli from where he’d ducked down behind his console, trying to make himself small.  “TJ, how is he?” she asked worriedly, brushing the hair away from his temple to check the probes connected to the headrest of the chair.  They didn’t seem to be digging into his flesh as they’d done previously so at least she could breathe easier knowing their modifications had been successful.

TJ sighed, smiling at her friend.  “His pulse is strong. BP’s elevated, but not dramatically.  For now.  We don’t know what’s going on in his head or how long he’ll be stuck in the chair.  The best I can do is continue to monitor him.”

Young paced anxiously behind Brody as the engineer took his place at the secondary console.  Chloe came in, having nearly been run over by Belle on her mad dash to the neural chair interface room.  “Belle, what’s going on? Are you alright?” she asked, gasping as her eyes fell on Rush in the chair.  “Oh my god, what happened?  I thought you said the program wasn’t ready?”

“It is,” Eli squeaked, eyeing Belle as she rose from her knees beside the chair and went to the wall panels to inspect the neural scans of the scientist’s brain.

“It was _not_ by any means _ready_ ,” she hissed.  TJ stepped to her side and examined the scans as well.  “Does this look ok to you?”

“Brainwaves are normal, neural pathways look good,” she confirmed.

Belle rounded furiously on the two manning the consoles.  “I was in here no more than forty five minutes ago.  Why the hell wasn’t I told about this?”

“He didn’t wanna involve anyone else…especially you, Belle, because he knew you’d try to talk him out of it,” Eli explained, backing away from her as she took in the data streaming between the laptop and console.

“I am in command of this ship,” Young growled, “and that means you don’t do _anything_ without involving me.  Do you understand?”

Belle’s eyes were twin shards of ice as her lip curled up into a sneer.  “Oh, stow it, Everett,” she sneered.  “You practically dared him to sit in the chair!  Told him the reason Dr. Franklin was in a catatonic state was because he _didn’t have the guts to do it himself_.  Those were your exact words, were they not?  We’ve been working this for months now, so back off and let us proceed.”  She whirled on Eli.  “How long’s he been like this?  Since I left to meet Greer?”

“Uh…yeah,” he said, nodding vigorously.

She took her place at the console and beckoned him forward to join her so they could analyze the data on the screen.  “The rate of transfer is still too fast.”  She turned to the wall panel behind her and traced the image of Rush’s brain scan.  “TJ, look.”

“Belle, I’m not a scientist,” the medic protested.

“No, but you were here the night Dr. Franklin sat in the chair.  The rate of transfer overwhelmed him and damaged his neo cortex which is…”

“…responsible for sensory perception, spatial reasoning and motor commands,” TJ finished for her.  “If we hadn’t gotten him out when we did, he could have hemorrhaged.  There’s no telling what damage he could have sustained to his other vital organs, not to mention his heart.”

Belle nodded, pinching the bridge of his nose.  “We’ve got to get him out of the chair.”

Young frowned, peering over their shoulders as he tried to follow their discussion.  “Let’s wake him up, then.”

Brody ducked his head, leaning his palms on the console.  “We can’t.  Severing the connection externally could be dangerous.  He has to do it himself.”

The colonel looked between Belle and TJ until the blonde finally shrugged and shook her head, unsure.  Belle slammed her palm down on the console, cursing softly under her breath.  “I can’t believe he did this without me.  I was the one who was supposed to do this!”

“Rush said he couldn’t take the chance that you’d get hurt.  He said it had to be him,” Eli mumbled as he focused on the streaming data.

“Which is why I should have been consulted.  He knew I wasn’t ready to give the go ahead on the program.  There are still too many bugs and now there’s a chance he won’t come out of it unscathed,” she said, glaring at the boy for his part in their deception.

“He knew this was the only way to unlock control of the ship.  The code has to be in the data bank somewhere,” Brody explained with a shrug.  Belle shot him a look of disapproval.  She found it admirable to have the engineer on their side, but he should have known better than to assist Rush in this madness.

“Let’s forget about Rush for a second,” the colonel retorted, raking a hand through his dark hair in frustration.  “If he wants to kill himself, so be it.  How do you know this modification you’ve made is not going to backfire and put the whole ship in jeopardy?”

 

“Because _we_ wrote it, Colonel,” Belle said, her tone clear and succinct, making it clear that he was rather stupid for even asking such a question.  “Eli, Rush, and I worked this program out.  There is no danger to Destiny.”

“How does this new interface even work?” Everett asked, not really caring who addressed his question as long as he got answers.

“We created a buffer to slow down the transfer of information.  We also limited the connection to narrow the range of the subject’s subconscious.  That should protect the vast majority of his brain.  Now, worst case,” Eli explained, “we hope only the memories that we targeted could be lost.  If it works, the data stored in the ship’s computer should be made available to Rush through a dream.”

“A semi-lucid one; sort of a stimulated recall of the memories in question.  There’s a built-in trigger.  It should appear to him as a distinctive door.  All he has to do is open it and walk through,” Belle said, crossing her arms over her chest as a violent shiver raced up her spine.  Her instincts were screaming at her that everything was going to crash and burn.

“TJ, stay and monitor him.  Let me know the moment he wakes up.  If _anything_ goes wrong, I’m pulling the plug.”  Young shook his head and stalked out of the room, leaving them to figure it out.

Belle walked around to stand before her the scientist strapped down in the chair, his face blank and impassive.  “If he’s in there too long, it’s going to start affecting his mind.  If he caves to too much stress, his body is going to fail.”

“What happens if he fails to find the trigger?” TJ asked, again checking his blood pressure and heart rate.

“He could die,” Eli murmured, not even chancing a glance at Belle.

Belle shot a look between the boy and Brody.  “We have to help him.  Is there any way I can go in with him? Upload my consciousness into Destiny’s computer? Use the stones? Anything?”

Chloe wrapped an arm around Belle’s shoulders, trying to comfort her friend as tears formed on the brunette’s long lashes.

“Yeah, if we had another chair,” Brody scoffed.

“The stones won’t work that way, Belle.  We’d have to have another neural device in order for you to go into the program with him,” Eli was quick to explain.

Chloe’s eyes widened as she looked down at Belle.  “I think I know a way.”

Eli called after her as she ran out of the room.  “Where are you going?”

“I’ll be right back!”

X*X*X*X*X

Chloe returned to the chair room within moments, her face flushed as she tried to catch her breath.  She ignored Eli as he began questioning her and pulled Belle over to the far side of the room, casting a furtive glance over her shoulder at TJ.

“What’s wrong, Chloe?” Belle asked, wondering why the girl would be leery of TJ.

Her large blue eyes were pleading as she glanced between her friend and her tightly closed fist.  “I need you to stay calm; no freaking out, ok?” Chloe said breathily as her heart rate finally began to slow from her mad dash through Destiny’s corridors.

“Chloe,” Belle sighed, rubbing wearily at her brow, the pressure forming behind her eyes steadily growing worse.  She really didn’t need the girl’s theatrics.  “Just tell me.”  She gasped as Chloe turned her back to the others and opened her hand.  “Gods! Where did you get these?”

Chloe frowned down at the two slim neural devices in her hand, one with little flashing red lights to receive, the other with yellow lights to transmit.  She fought back a wave of panic from the memories that assailed her.  “I took them from the room where you were being held, before Dr. Rush flew us out of there.  I thought maybe we could study them, figure out how they work, but I forgot about them until you suggested we needed another neural device to help him.”

“Chloe, what if they could have been tracking us all along simply by having the device on board?” Belle hissed, keeping her voice as low as possible so as not to alert the others.

“But they haven’t,” the girl protested.  “We haven’t seen any sign of them in months, Belle.  And if we could somehow help Dr. Rush, isn’t it worth the risk?”

Belle nodded, taking the devices from Chloe.  “Alright, you lot, listen up.  Brody I need you and Eli to go to the lounge and bring one of those big overstuffed chairs in here.  Just not…the one Greer and Park like to curl up in…there’s no telling…Eww…Go!”  Thankfully, they didn’t question her, but left the room to carry out her orders.

TJ narrowed her eyes suspiciously.  “What’re you planning, Belle?”

She shook her head, refusing to divulge any information until Eli and Brody had returned.  She needed them all to be on board with this plan and she knew TJ would be the hardest to convince.

Eli and Brody lugged the heavy chair into the room and set it down with a thud so that it was facing Rush.   “What’s up, Belle?  You going to take a nap?” Brody drawled in a teasing tone.  The look she cast him of abject disdain, prompted him to keep his mouth shut.

“Ok, here’s what we’re going to do.”  She held out her hand, ushering them closer to look at the little devices in her hand.  “These are neural transmitters.” She held up the one with the red lights.  “This one receives, the other transmits.  I can use them to go into Nicholas’s mind, to share what he’s doing in there.  Perhaps if we can combine our efforts, it will get him out sooner rather than later.”

The room erupted into a chorus of protests.

“They…oh my god…they could be tracking us!” Eli blustered.

Brody was quick to shoot him down.  “No, it’s been too long.  If they were tracking us through the device, we would have encountered them again already.”

“We need to report this to the colonel, Belle,” TJ said, her gaze troubled as she stared pointedly at her friend.

“No,” she said with a shake of her head.  “Absolutely not.  If we tell Everett, he’s going to say no and I’d really rather not argue with the man.  After I’m linked to Nicholas, you won’t be able to pull me out until the parameters of the program are met.  Then you can tell him whatever the bloody hell you want.”  She sat down in the chair and tried to get as comfortable as possible within its plump interior.

Brody approached her cautiously.  “Belle, if something happens to Rush, being linked with him will ultimately affect you as well.  The risks are insurmountable.”

“He’s worth it,” she insisted quietly.

“But—“ Eli protested.  Her icy gaze cut him off before he’d had a chance to begin.  “Fine, stubborn as always.”

Chloe took the devices from her and carefully attached it to Belle’s skin just above her left eyebrow.  “You’re sure about this?”

“Yes,” she said, surveying the others as they watched her closely.  “Eli, no matter what…do _not_ try to pull the plug on the chair _or_ remove the neural transmitters.  We don’t know what it could do to us and I will not risk Nicholas.  Are we clear?”

The boy gulped.  “Crystal.”

“Alright, Chloe, do it,” she ordered, her eyes trained on her lover.  There was no backing out.  If there was some way to help him, she had to do it.  He meant too much to her to lose him now.  She couldn’t go through that again.

She scrunched her eyes against the pain in her head as the device was secured to Nicholas’s temple.  The devices connected and everything went black as she spiraled down into the abyss.

X*X*X*X*X

Rush growled in frustration as he was swept along a sea of memories he hoped the program would erase permanently from his mind when it was over and done.  Waking up next to his beloved Gloria, seeing her brow creased in worry over the breakfast table had been a knife straight to his heart…one that seemed to be slowly twisting the further he delved into the memory.

His one constant companion, grounding him to his task, was his ever present notebook.  Numbers, symbols, calculations flooded the periphery of his vision, nothing making sense as he plodded along.  The dream, the walk through the valley of his memories, was necessary to slow the influx of data into his mind, yet he wished it weren’t.  He needed to focus and the memory was sapping his will to focus.

Now as he looked out over the classroom at the puzzled faces of his former students staring back at him, he could only groan.  Instead of going through the motions of the memory, he turned his back on them to write a string of calculations in Ancient on the blackboard.

“Every code that’s ever been cracked,” he addressed his students, his voice clear and concise, “every cipher in the last millennia has been based on those who came before them.”  He turned back to face the classroom and gestured behind him at the board, hoping they would focus.  “This code, however, is so old, there may be no know predecessor.”

He wracked his brain, trying to put a name to the face.  “You’re talking about a proto-encryption,” the boy said when he realized he had his professor’s attention.

“Exactly right.”

One of the brightest minds in his quantum physics class and one of the most annoying.  “Wh... How do we attack it with no basis, then?”

Nicholas looked around at his students, waiting to see if anyone else would offer any theories.  “None of you? Nothing?  None of you see any pattern in this?”  He fixed them all with his patented death glare.  “So what good are you lot, then?  Why are you here?”

The student, Chad something or other, Nicholas thought, finally placing the boy, sputtered indignantly.  “There’s symbols up there I’ve never even seen before!”

“Yes, you have!” Rush growled.  “You have because _I_ have, and _you_ are all me!”

The students looked around at each other nervously.  Nicholas glared at them all for a long moment before his temper finally snapped.  “Get out! All of you - just get out!”

His pupils murmured caustically amongst themselves as they gathered their books and personal items, filing dolefully from the room…all except one.  She had been sitting in the very front row, her short skirt showing off more than a bit of her long shapely legs.  His eyes rose from her legs to take in the seductive curve of her rosebud mouth as it lifted into a smile, the wire framed glasses perched on her nose and her glossy chestnut hair pulled back into a tightly coiled bun.

Rush couldn’t miss the barely concealed ire in her cerulean gaze.  “You never were able to tolerate poor Chad.   You’d realize he really is quite brilliant if you’d give him a chance,” she purred silkily as she rose from the desk, her sky high red heels tapping a staccato in time with his heart as she approached him.

His lips curled up into a smirk, the one he knew she disliked with a flaming passion.  “You’re not supposed to be here.  You never took this class, Belle, so why don’t you enlighten me as to how you got here.”

“Here’s one better, darling,” she sneered bitterly, her eyes narrowed dangerously.  “What made you think you could do this without me?  You purposely put yourself in danger because of your impatience,” she bit out, poking him in the chest as she backed him up against the desk.  “The program wasn’t ready…you knew that!?  We talked about this just this morning.  I won’t have you in a vegetative state like Franklin, Rush!  And to go behind my back was--”

“Necessary!  Because I didn’t want to fight with you!”  His hands curled over her upper arms as he reeled her in, his own eyes flashing fire.  “You never listen!  And don’t even try to tell me you wouldn’t have done the same once the program was ready!”

The heat went out of her as she glanced away guiltily, chewing nervously at her bottom lip.  She sighed, her shoulders drooping.  “You’re right, I would have.  However, I would have simply talked you into letting me sit in the chair instead of distracting me and going behind my back.”

“How are you here, Belle?” he persisted.

She stepped away, his hands falling to his sides as he let her go.  “We’re wasting time.  There’s a glitch that needs to be debugged in the program and our time is limited.  We need to solve this, so can we postpone the explanation until then?”  She grabbed her head with both hands as a wave of dizziness washed over her, the endless stream of code flashing gold along the periphery of her vision.

“Are you alright?” he asked, once again reaching out to steady her.

“Yeah, just the data being transferred isn’t exactly pleasant.”  She focused on him, his touch seeming to ground her.  “We’re linked now, Nicholas.  I’m a part of this whether you like it or not, so let’s get to work.”

Rush grabbed her hand and began pulling her up the steps to exit the auditorium style classroom.  “Come on, let’s get back home to my office.  We can work on it there for a while before my memories send me elsewhere.”

“What memory did you choose, Nicholas?” she asked in a small voice, having some suspicion as to which one they were traversing through.  She remembered Chad from one of his classes conducted during the time of Gloria’s illness, the last stages that had finally succeeded in taking her life and thrusting Nicholas into the deepest despair she’d ever seen.  Of course, he’d wish to lose this particular memory.

“Doesn’t matter, Belle.  You weren’t part of this memory, so it’s not like you’re going to disrupt anything in the course of it.  Only I will be able to see you.”

Belle opened her mouth to argue as he yanked open the door and stepped through, but no sound came out as she took in her surroundings.  The blood seemed to freeze in her veins as a familiar, beloved high pitched giggle met her ears.  “Slacking again, dearie?  Tsk, tsk, reading when you should be cleaning.  Why don’t you make yourself useful and fetch us some tea.”

Rush stared in wide-eyed horror at the creature before him, his mouth gaping.  “Fucking hell!”

X*X*X*X*X

“Whose brilliant idea was this?” Everett asked in a voice that could have melted steel.  He waved a hand at the petite brunette in the chair opposite Rush.  “Belle, right?”

Chloe regarded him stonily, her arms crossed over her chest where she stood to the left of Belle’s chair, ready to come to her defense if need be.  “Actually, it was mine,” she admitted.

“You should have told me about the devices the moment you brought them on board.  It could have led us into another confrontation with the Nakai and this ship has sustained enough damage at their hands.  You could have endangered us all with your reckless behavior,” he railed at her, his voice rising ominously.

“Colonel, there’s been no indication—“ Eli’s voice cut off abruptly as he sent an icy look the boy’s way.

“If we ever want to find a way home, they need to do this.  We need Rush whether you like it or not, Colonel,” Brody said as he monitored the data on his laptop.

His dark gaze swung around to TJ, unable to believe that she’d purposely betrayed him.  She should have radioed him immediately so he could have put a stop to this.  “How are they holding up?”

TJ shrugged.  “Rush’s blood pressure is higher than before and he’s suffered a nosebleed.  I’m not going to lie to you, Colonel.  I’m concerned.  Belle seems to be holding her own, though her temp is up a few degrees.”

“If he gets any worse, we’re putting an end to this, Tamara.  I don’t care if I have to send in a full detail to see that my orders are carried out.”

Eli slumped over his console and shook his head, praying they would hurry and do what needed to be done before they both ended up on the wrong side of the colonel’s wrath.

X*X*X*X*X

Belle beckoned Rush to follow her, leading him to the kitchens of the Dark Castle, her mind whirling as her heart threatened to beat out of her chest.  Damnit!  She filled the kettle with water and hung it on the hook over the fire and then moved quickly to prepare a tray to bring out to Rumpelstiltskin, just as if it had been yesterday.

“Who… _WHAT_ …was that, Belle?  And why are you dressed that way?” he asked, taking in her light blue maid’s uniform with its corset style bodice.  “You look like you just stepped out of the pages of a fairytale.”

Belle pinched the bridge of her nose, the pressure behind her eyes nearly unbearable.  She did _not_ need this today.  “I should have changed the parameters set into the program…not that it would have done any good, mind you…but since we’re linked, just as I have access to your memories, it’s understandable that you should have access to mine…”

“You’re rambling, Belle,” he muttered irritably, crossing his arms over his chest to keep from smashing the crockery on the tray.

“We have to get out of here.  This is going to do nothing but distract you from your purpose.”

He pointed a long finger angrily towards the door, his voice rising hysterically.  “That doesn’t explain what the hell that was ordering you about in there!  This is insane!”

Belle cringed as the kettle whistled.  She made quick work of pouring the boiling water over the loose tea in the pot before turning back to him.  “This is my memory, Nicholas, my past.  That _thing_ as you put it so eloquently, is Rumpelstiltskin.”

She lifted the tray and swept out of the room, leaving him to follow or stay.  At the moment she didn’t care which.  He followed her, just on the off chance that they’d become separated.  This was completely insane, a really bad episode of _Tales from the Dark Side_!  Grand! Now he was beginning to sound like Eli.  He was seeing it with his own eyes, yet his logical mind refused to believe it.  He felt the acute sting of jealousy sear his insides as she poured the _thing…_ he still refused to call it a man…his tea and handed him a cup, their fingers brushing.

Rush trailed after her over to the large spinning wheel where the imp sat down, his eyes widening as he took in the basket of spun gold at his feet.  “What—“  he froze as the green-gold skinned _thing_ snapped his fingers, producing a small silver key between his clawed fingers.  He rubbed rapidly at his eyes, wondering if his vision was going.  He did _not_ just see a key appear out of thin air.  It wasn’t possible!  Yet Belle didn’t seem to be alarmed by the display…of what he could only term as magic…in the least.

Belle arched a brow and cast him an indulgent smile.  “And what’s that, Rumpel?” she asked, knowing full well what it was.

“The key to the library, of course.  At least until your chores are done,” the imp giggled, infinitely pleased with himself, judging by the giggle that rang throughout the room.

Her smile was sad as she turned to go, but he rose from the stool to pace after her.  “Dearie, are you well?  You look a bit…off,” he murmured, tilting his head to the side as he studied her.

“I’m fine, Rumpel.  I’ll just get back to work,” she said, unable to keep the tremor of tears from her voice.  It pained her greatly to see him there in his imp form, still dancing around his feelings for her.

Rush hurried after her as she made her way to the ornate double doors, the barrier smoothly opening for her of its own accord.  They closed behind them with a bang and only then did she take his hand and steer him toward the corridor that led…who knew where, he thought, shaking his head.

“You said you worked for someone named Gold,” he said, pointing an accusing finger in her direction.”

“Please, Nicholas, not now!”

He grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to meet his gaze.  He was taken aback at the wealth of tears shining in her brilliant blue eyes.  “Belle…”  She wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his neck, clinging desperately to him.  “Please, _mo chroí_.  Please don’t cry.  Just tell me what’s going on.”

“I didn’t lie to you, Nicholas, I swear.  I just changed a few details to put it into terms you’d accept.  You’d have thought I was certifiably insane if I’d told you the truth.”

“Which is?” he asked, exasperated as she pulled away from him.

“You ever read the story of _Beauty and the Beast_?  Well, Rumpelstiltskin is my beast,” she set off down the corridor, opening one doorway after another as she sought a way out and back into his own memories.  “He made a deal with me…he’d save my kingdom from ogres if I’d agree to be his maid.  Before you ask…” she said, giving him a pointed look when he opened his mouth to do just that.  “…yes, he _is_ Rumpelstiltskin, but he is also my beast.  He was once a man, now he’s… _was_ …cursed. Guh!! This is confusing.”

“But—“

“Do you want to hear this or not?!” she snapped.

He threw his hands up as if to say be my guest, but held his tongue.

“I fell in love with him. That was the truth, but it’s more complicated than what it might seem.”

“Wasn’t the beast cursed and beauty broke it with her kiss?” he snarked, rolling his eyes.

She took a shuddering breath at the memory.  “Yes, but he didn’t want to break his curse.  He needed his power to find his son who’d been transported to another realm.  His protégé, the evil queen…oh this is getting complicated, but surely you’ll remember her from the story of Snow White…cast a curse Rumpel devised to take us to your realm.”

She brightened with relief as she found the door that would take them back, her entire body seeming to relax.  He, however, didn’t want to leave until he fully understood what the hell she was talking about.

“Belle, you can’t expect me to believe fairy tales are real…or magic…or sparkly green imps!”

“Frankly, Nicholas, I don’t give a rat’s ass what you believe right now.  I just want to get you back on track so we can get the hell out of here.”  She looked down at his hand, still holding her back from proceeding through the door.  “I’m still me, Rush.  I’m still the woman you claim to love.”

“Of course I love you,” he murmured, trailing his fingers along her smooth cheek.  “It’s just a bit much to take in.  Is this why you’ve always been so reluctant to talk about your past?”

Belle nodded, ducking her head.  “I didn’t think you would believe me,” she said softly. “I didn’t think you’d want me anymore, that you’d think I was crazy.”

“You were right about the crazy part,” he muttered under his breath.  She glared at him.  “Sometimes it takes seeing something with your own eyes to make a believer out of you.  It doesn’t change the way I feel about you, my Belle.”

She smiled sadly and took his hand, leading him through the door…back into his own mind.  Later, she’d sit him down and tell him everything, but right now there were more pressing matters at hand.

X*X*X*X*X

TJ gently wiped the blood from Rush’s nose and tossed the tissue in the trash can as Young came stalking into the chair interface room again.

“Progress?” he snapped.

TJ leveled him with a look, trying to be gentle because of his elevated level of agitation.  “His nose was bleeding, again but it’s stopped now.”

“What does that mean?”

“I don’t know exactly, but it can’t be good for him, the way this thing messes with the brain.  His heart rate and BP have been fluctuating.  Belle however seems to be doing well.”

“I thought you said he was stable.”

“I said, _for the moment_.  That was two hours ago,” she said, packing away her kit until it was needed again.

Young paced over to Brody at his console.  “No way at all to tell if he’s having any success?”

“No, all I’m able to monitor is the rate the data’s flowing into his mind, and that’s been fluctuating as well.”

X*X*X*X*X

Belle closed her eyes as she flopped back on the sofa in Rush’s study, the pain in her eyes almost debilitating.  The numbers, symbols and calculations continued to whir past in her peripheral vision to the point where she wanted to scream.  She could only imagine it to be worse for Rush since he was directly linked to the ship’s computer.

He paced back and forth before his white board, tapping the tip of the dry erase marker to his chin.  He threw the marker, causing Belle to jump and eye him with alarm.  “I just don’t see why it has to be so fucking hard,” he yelled, raking his hand through his tousled hair.  “I’m going to fail at this too.”

“Nicholas, what are you talking about?” she asked, picking up her pencil again to absently record some of the data streaming through her mind.  It looked like a jumbled mess to her, but Rush might possibly have some use for it.

“The core system.  I devoted two and a half years of my life to solving the issues of dialing the ninth chevron while my wife spent her dying days alone.  I was too busy off trying to solve the problem to devote myself fully to her,” he said bitterly.

“Gloria doesn’t blame you,” she murmured quietly, trying to keep her tone low so as not to disturb his ramblings.  She knew there was no point when he got like this.

“And then some kid—some big child—“ he spat, “with no meaningful education comes in at the last minute and solves it just like that,” he growled in frustration, snapping his fingers with an angry crack.  “No sense of ambition; spent most of his time playing ridiculous games, yet _he’s_ the genius I’ll never be.  He’s the one that should be here now, seeing what I’m seeing.”

“As if you would let him discover the secrets of your precious Destiny before you.”  She set her notepad aside and rose to her feet, resting her hands on his shoulders.  “I understand what you’re going through, Nicholas.  I lost _my_ love.  There was nothing I could do to save him.  It’s a terrible helpless feeling.”

He pulled her to him, dropping a light kiss to her temple.  “I know, my Belle.”  He put his glasses on and moved back towards the white board.  “Gloria isn’t the answer, though.  Data does come quicker when I’m with her, but quick isn’t going to help me if I can’t interpret.  There’s patterns I’m just not seeing.”

“Nicholas, if you need to be with her…go.”

Rush scowled at her and turned his attention back to the board and the multitude of papers and notes tacked to the walls.  She refused to give up on him, going to him and clasping his hands in hers.  “You’re running, Nicholas.  I know you’re suffering, darling.  Go to her.  Be with her.”

“Why do you keep telling me this,” he asked softly, his voice filled with suspicion.  He wondered briefly if it were relevant to his quest, but pushed the idea aside.  The phone rang and he left her to answer it, knowing it would be the hospital telling him that they didn’t expect Gloria to last throughout the day.

“Nicholas—“

“What’s today’s date, Belle?”

She eyed him with concern.  “What’s that to do with anything?  Are you alright?”

“Just answer the bloody question!”

“April sixth,” she answered, wondering if the stress and strain were getting to him.

He picked up the eraser and wiped away his calculations.  “Belle, Gloria didn’t die on the sixth.  She…”

“…died on the fourth,” she finished for him, taking the marker from his numb fingers to write the date on the board.  “Seriously, Nicholas?  Forty six?  This is not _A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy!_ ”

She called after him worriedly as he rushed out of the office door and into the hall, opening the front door and walking out onto the front stoop.  It was the same number there on the house that was there earlier, yet he’d failed to notice—forty six.  Belle was waiting for him, anxiously tugging on a lock of hair that had escaped her bun as he came back into the office.

“Belle, the address of this house is four, not forty six…why does it say forty six?”

Belle swayed dizzily on her feet, but her mind was as sharp as ever.  “Well, forty-six divided by two is twenty-three. I remember you lecturing on the Twenty-Three Enigma.”

He sat down on the sofa, tugging on her hand to pull her down next to him.  “Yeah, it refers to some ridiculous notion that everything and anything is connected to the number twenty-three.”

She nodded.  “Most rational people acknowledge the Enigma is merely evidence of the mind's power to perceive truth in almost anything.  If you look for it, you’re going to find it.”

Rush rested his head on her shoulder, thinking back over the course of the memory and the time he’d spent with Gloria…the bedside clock showing the time as six forty six, himself writing six forty six in his notebook, the license plate of the car 46YYR9P, Gloria sitting beside him in church with her bible open to the Psalm which the priest had recited …Psalm 46, an itemized list of numbers on his desk at the university which ended with item forty six, writing 4n 6n on the whiteboard, then circling the two numbers.  It had been steadily scattered throughout the dream sequence and he hadn’t seen it.

“So, what is this?” he wondered aloud. “Is this my mind playing tricks? Am I seeing something that's not there?  Convincing myself this is somehow signific…” he grimaced in pain as a jolt of pure fire lanced through his heart.  “…significant?”

 

“Nicholas!” Belle screamed as he clutched his chest and pitched forward, tumbling off the sofa.  “No!”

X*X*X*X*X

TJ wrapped the length of her stethoscope around her neck and shook her head dejectedly as she looked over at Young who continued his anxious pacing about the chair room.  “Sir, he just suffered some sort of cardiac event.  He seems somewhat stabilized, but I don’t know how much more of this he can take.”

“What about Miss French?  Can’t she come out of it long enough to tell us what the hell they’re doing in there?

Brody sighed.  “She’s too heavily linked with him.  As long as he’s working the problem, she’ll be there with him.  Until he finds the answer, the door he needs to exit the program won’t show itself.”

“Damnit!  Leaving him in there is gonna kill him?” Everett asked, wearily taking a seat on the stool at the console next to the engineer.

“Both of them,” the medic murmured, casting her troubled gaze over at her friend.  Belle looked as if she were just sleeping, but TJ knew better.  “I think so, sir; it’s just a matter of time.”

“And you said pulling them out could kill them too?” he asked Brody, needing confirmation.

“I know I advised against it, but maybe it’s better to opt for risk over certainty.”

TJ knelt next to Belle to check her vitals again.  “There’s a possibility he may not be aware of the danger he’s in, Colonel.  And if Belle is aware, she wouldn’t risk his life.  Hers maybe, but never his.  We need to wait until we’ve no other option.”

X*X*X*X*X

Belle clasped his hand tightly in hers as they walked down the hallway of the hospital towards Gloria’s room.  He needed to do this, to say goodbye one last time and she couldn’t think where she would rather be than with him, lending her strength when he needed it most.

Rush pulled her to a stop just before they reached his wife’s door, the same emotions that had overwhelmed him the first time he’d had to do this, rushing in and stealing his breath.  His brow dropped against her shoulder as her arms went about him, cradling him close.  “It’s alright, darling, I’m here.  You’re not alone.  Go to her, tell her how much you love her…how much you will _always_ love her.  She needs you, Nicholas.”

He nodded weakly and freed himself from her embrace, trudging wearily into Gloria’s room to sit in the chair at her bedside.  She opened her wide brown eyes, always so full of life and love, now dulled by the pain of her last moments.

“You’re not here for _me_ ,” she murmured quietly.

He lowered his gaze to the floor, fighting back the tears that threatened at the corners of his eyes.  “I’ve already been through this.”

“No, you haven’t, Nick.  You were running.”

“I was here,” he whispered adamantly, denying the accusation in her tone.

“You can’t lie to yourself.”  He lifted his gaze, finally finding the courage to look into her eyes.  “You chose this memory because it’s one you’d rather just forget.”  He looked down again and took his glasses off.  “What you need is here now.  That’s why you’re here.  It’s not for me.  You just want your answer.”

He forced himself to meet his gaze.  “I _need_ an answer.”

“You're dying,” she whispered, tears forming on her lashes.

 

He looked down at his feet, ashamed. “I know.”

 

“You'd rather die than fail? You’d take Belle with you?  What have you become, Nicholas? The things you've done - it's not who you are; it's not _you_.”

 

“I always had it in me ... to make the hard decisions. I have reasons ... _good_ reasons,” he said defensively, barely able to get the words out around the lump of raw emotion blocking his throat.

 

The sadness evident in her eyes was like a physical blow to him.  “To hurt people? Are you sure? You tell yourself my death gave you courage. In truth, it made you callous. You're not the man I loved.”

 

“He died with you.” Nicholas’s face fell, unable to hold back the tears any longer.

 

“I was never your conscience, Nicholas. You still have one of your own. You just need to listen to it. Some people live their whole lives and never find what _we_ had,” she said softly, the strength slowly fading from her voice. “Don't let what happened to me change you this way. It's nobody's fault.”

 

He choked out a sob, tears coursing freely down his face.  “I know. I know that.”

 

“It's one stupid gene passed on to me by my mother, incapable of performing its one simple function - to repair damaged D.N.A.”

Nicholas lifted his head, his eyes widening as everything fell into place.

 

She smiled with satisfaction.  “That's it, isn't it? That's why you're here.”

 

His watery gaze came to rest on the door that appeared in the wall, the same one he’d been searching for all along that would take him home.  “Of course!”

 

“Go.”  She reached out her hand to him as he wept openly, his warm hand clasping hers in both of his.  He brought it to his mouth, pressing a gentle kiss to her fingers and he locked his gaze to hers.  “I know how much you loved me,” she said, fighting back her own tears.  “Stop taking it out on everyone else.  Let Belle help you, Nick.  She loves you so much.”

“I haven’t forgotten you, Gloria, I never will,” he sobbed, his lower lip trembling.

X*X*X*X*X

Rush groaned as the prongs retracted from his temples and the clamps opened around his wrists and ankles.  His eyes fluttered open as he dropped out of the chair and onto his knees, trying in vain to get to Belle as TJ, Brody and Young crowded around him.

 

He buried his head in her lap, his arms wrapping about her hips as he nestled into her, wishing everyone to perdition for the noise they were making.  “Would you all just shut up?!” he growled.  All he wanted…needed…was Belle.  Everything else could wait.  Finally, he found the strength to lift his head, shrugging away the hands that would pull him away from her.

 

He gaped in horror as he noticed the neural transmitter attached to her temple and ripped it away, flinging it away as far as he could.  Reaching up, he found its twin and hurriedly did the same with it.  “Where the hell did these come from?  Is this how she was able to…” he fought to catch his breath as his chest tightened painfully. “…override the programming?”

Eli lifted her out of the chair as Brody and Young supported Rush, bearing them to the infirmary.  “Belle!” he called weakly, his head lolling on his shoulders, just before everything went black.

X*X*X*X*X

Belle shrank back as she opened her eyes to find Nicholas hovering over her, his eyes filled with a mixture of fear and shame.  “What is it? What’s wrong? Are you alright?” she asked, her hands blindly reaching up to cradle his face in her warm palms.

“Don’t ever scare me like that again!” he whispered, his voice coming out in a furious hiss.  Her lower lip disappeared between her teeth as she chewed thoughtfully, wondering if maybe she’d pushed him too far.  He closed the distance between them, his lips gentle as he pressed them to hers.  “You’ve really got to stop putting yourself in danger.”

“You did it,” she said accusingly when they parted.  “Why can’t I do the same?  I couldn’t let you die.”

He sat back on the stool and let her pull his head down to rest on her shoulder, thankful for the privacy screen TJ had erected around the gurney Belle lay upon.  Belle stroked a hand over his shaggy locks and waited patiently for him to tell her what he’d risked his life to discover.

It didn’t take him long, never having been able to keep a secret from her regarding their work.  “Even though it nearly killed me, I managed to find a clue which may give us control of this ship once and for all.”

“A clue?” she asked, her eyes heavy with sleep.  What she wouldn’t give to have a nice long nap, just the two of them.

“Forty six.  It's the number of chromosomes in human D.N.A. Genetic code.”

Belle snorted.  “Leave it to the Ancients to come up with something so simple, yet so hard to find. Bastards!”

He chuckled softly, glancing over his shoulder to make sure TJ hadn’t noticed he’d slipped out of his own bed.  “Well, we know in other cases with their later technologies that the Ancients used sensors that restricted access by detecting specific genetic markers.  The access code to Destiny is not like that.  It’s definitely numerological.  The problem we’ve had cracking it is that we had no basis on where to start.”

 

“And now we do,” she murmured, a tired smile curving her lips.

“Yes.  They used their own genetic code, likely a specific one, more evolved than ours, no doubt, but all we have to do is run through the variations.”

Belle cast him a pained look as he raised his head to look at her.  “Nicholas, that’s like billions of possibilities.”  She groaned.  “I’m going to be writing another program aren’t I?”

“No, _mo stór_ , I’ll be writing this one.  It shouldn’t take long for it to run through the permutations once I can get it up and running.”

 

“You’re being mighty optimistic, darling.” Her brow creased with worry, her smile slipping away.  “Was it worth risking your life?”

 

“We’ll just have to wait and see.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thank you all so much for reading!! Your support for this fic really means the world to me. I look forward to hearing your comments on this latest installment. I wanted to do something different and I truly hope you enjoyed my spin on the episode. Next chapter, Belle goes off world with Greer, Scott, Chloe and Eli. Does it surprise you that she gets herself in a bit of a pickle. Rush isn’t happy about it either. Prepare for the angst. I swear I need to buy stock in the Kleenex Company. See you next week, my darlings!
> 
> Have you read “Sensitivity” by xXSedationXx over on ffnet? It’s Chloe/Rush and it’s soooo good. You’re missing out if you’re not reading. Go...check it out!


	15. Lost

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I threw some smut in here to apologize for the angst later in the chapter. Remember I’m going by canon so don’t eat me! It has to have angst unfortunately.

Rush paced about the communications lab, listening with only half and ear to Telford as he asked question after question about what had been happening recently on Destiny.  Really?  Was there no one else available for Colonel Young to switch with when he used the stones?  Even Christopher Pierce—that lech—would have been preferable, as long as he was strapped to a chair and couldn’t be allowed anywhere near Belle.  Thankfully, she was in hydroponics this morning and had no idea as to what he was doing.

 

There was no need to make her worry unnecessarily, however.  The results of her testing were ready and he was more than a little anxious to discover if she’d earned her degree.  He inwardly scolded himself.  Of course she’d passed.  She was brilliant and would be a credit to her field.  He should have gone down himself instead of asking Young to get her results after his meeting with the general.

 

“Rush,” Young said, drawing his attention.

 

“Colonel Telford, I’ve told you all I can right now.  We’re working through the variables.  It’s going to take time to unlock the master code,” he said irritably, rubbing at the back of his neck with his hand.  He wondered if he could convince TJ to sedate the irritating man while he was on board.  Considering he was in Young’s body, though, he doubted she would agree.

 

Young rose to his feet and shook his head.  “No, Rush, I’m back,” Everett said, his lips curling into a smirk, knowing how much the scientist disliked Telford.

 

Rush whirled on him, his dark gaze anxious.  “And?  Did you speak with Dr. Verrett?”

 

“I did,” he answered without elaborating.

 

“And?!”

 

“She passed.  She’s officially Dr. Belle French,” he said, shaking the man’s hand as Rush slumped with relief.  “Oh come on, Rush, you weren’t worried were you?”

 

“Of course not, no.”  At the colonel’s dubious look, he admitted, “Well, maybe just a little.”

 

Young chuckled.  “This is cause for celebration.  Maybe we can get Becker to cook up something nice for dinner.”

 

“I have a better idea,” Rush said, “but I’m going to need your help.”  The words were like acid on his tongue.  It galled him to no end to have to ask the man for his assistance, but this wasn’t about him. This was for Belle.

 

Everett’s brows rose.  “Oh, this should be good.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle wiped the back of her hand over her brow, leaving a smudge of dirt there before digging back into the soil and gently removing the last seedling to transplant it into the new planter.  It was steady monotonous work, but it needed to be done and it kept her mind free to run calculations on the new program to decipher Destiny’s master code.

 

Two wiry arms coiled about her waist and she found her back plastered against a warm body she knew only too well.  “Nicholas…” she breathed out on a sigh of contentment, a smile tugging at her lips. 

 

He nuzzled against her neck, his lips nipping gently beneath her ear.  “Hm?”

 

She continued her work, patting the soil around the little seedling before reaching for a cloth to clean her hands.  “I thought you were working,” she murmured, wrapping her hands around his arms where they rested on her waist as she leaned her head back on his shoulder.

 

“I missed you,” he said simply, turning her in his arms to sip lightly at her lips.  “And I figured you’d be ready to go to dinner soon.”

 

Her brows rose in surprise.  “Since when does the prospect of a meal lure you away from the control room?”

 

“Since the quality of food has improved slightly.  We still have plenty from the last planet we visited and hopefully there will be more when we drop out of FTL again.”

 

She glanced down at her watch, a small furrow appearing between her brows.  “I really hadn’t realized it had grown that late.”

 

With one last kiss, he pulled away, his hands sliding slowly down her arms to twine her fingers with his.  “Come on,” he nodded towards the door.  “Let’s eat and then I’m sure there will be more work to do before we retire.”

 

Belle groaned, following him out of the hydroponics lab and into the seemingly deserted corridor.  “Where is everyone?” she asked curiously.  Usually there were at least two or three civilians lurking about the corridors where the science and research labs were located.

 

“Probably at dinner,” he said evasively. 

 

It didn’t take long to reach the mess and she covered her mouth with both hands to stifle a gasp as she was greeted with, “Congratulations, Dr. French!” by nearly the entire crew.

 

Nicholas pulled her into a warm embrace, nuzzling against her ear.  “Congratulations, _mo_ _stór_ ,” he whispered, his voice husky with emotion.  “You’ve earned it.”

 

“How did you keep this from me?!” she chuckled, slapping him lightly on the shoulder.

 

“I just found out today and believe me, it was not easy to keep this secret when I wanted to shout it from the intercom.”

 

She was quickly pulled away by her friends, Greer being the first to pull her into a hug and twirl her about as he lifted her from her feet.  “Congrats, Miss Belle.”

 

“I knew you could do it,” Chloe cheered, hugging her friend.

 

Rush scowled as he watched his Belle being passed around the room for well-deserved cheers and congratulations.  He knew he was being selfish, wanting to keep her all to himself, but it was who he was.  Possessiveness was ingrained in him.  She’d studied so hard, even after they’d begun the Icarus project, using every bit of spare time to devote to what she was missing in an actual classroom.  She deserved to have her hard work recognized.

 

Young laughed heartily as he came to stand next to Rush.  “Don’t let her see you glowering like that, man.  She’ll be back at your side in no time.”

 

Rush turned said glower on the colonel.  “Her friends can be a bit much at times.  I guess I’m just used to it being the two of us,” he admitted ruefully.

 

Greer, Chloe, TJ, Eli and Brody all crowded around her table in the secluded corner she preferred and quickly filled the space.  Greer pulled another over to it, making one long table so more could join in.  Belle scooted to the left, leaving a spot between her and Chloe as her hand shot into the air, beckoning Rush over.  “Nicholas, come on!  I saved you a seat.”

 

He slid in easily between his two favorite people aboard Destiny, leaving Young and Scott to find a seat further down the table.  He slipped one arm about her waist, pulling her into his side as he eagerly reached for his cup with what passed as tea lately.  “Have I told you how proud I am of you, _mo chroí_?” he asked, nipping lightly at her ear. 

 

She giggled and kissed his cheek.  “You can show me later,” she whispered, her eyes sparkling with promise.

 

They broke apart as Becker and one of his volunteers brought out their dinner, setting it before them.  His nose wrinkled as he stared down at the offering.  “What is this?” he asked when he realized he wasn’t the only person eyeing his food with suspicion.

 

“It’s food, Doc,” Greer mumbled, his mouth already full.

 

“Don’t listen to him.  Ronald will eat anything.”  Belle pointed her fork at his plate.  “The green things are carrots, the purple mushy stuff is potatoes and these chunks of meat look to be from one of the elk-like animals Greer and Scott brought back from the Genesis planet.  All in all I would say its Destiny’s version of Shepherd’s pie,” she said happily, digging into her dinner.  “And it’s delicious.  Eat, Nicholas.”

 

“It’s food, people.  It will keep you alive…and thankfully it’s rather tasty as well,” Greer intoned with approval.  He held out his plate for seconds and Becker was happy to refill it for him.

 

“I still find it hard to believe you had time to finish your doctorate while working for this guy,” Eli teased, ducking his head sheepishly when Rush looked his way.

 

Riley, barely a week out of the infirmary and back on duty, operated a Kino to document the celebration for Eli’s project.  “You two missed out a great deal on their episodes on Icarus,” he said to Eli and Chloe who’d come rather late to the party.  They’d only been there for a few hours before they’d had to escape through the wormhole onto Destiny.

 

“We weren’t that bad,” Rush protested, digging into his meal.  The strange mixture didn’t taste quite that bad if he focused his attention elsewhere.

 

Young chortled gleefully.  “Oh yes you were!”

 

“Remember the time you went looking for her only to find her in the middle of her self-defense session with Greer?” Scott asked, leaning his elbows on the table so he could look down the table at Rush.  “Didn’t she kick you in the chest?”

 

The master sergeant chuckled.  “No it was in the—“

 

“OKAY!!” Belle interjected, trying to preserve Nicholas’s dignity.  “It was an accident!”

 

“What about the time the whiteboard got broken?” TJ asked innocently.

 

“That so wasn’t my fault,” Belle retorted with a snort.  “He ducked.  If he’d stayed where he was, that hard drive would’ve hit _him_ instead.”

 

Eli coughed as a sip of his tea went down the wrong way.  “Wait!  You threw a hard drive at him?”

 

“And let’s not forget all the times she worked herself into exhaustion and fell asleep at her desk.  The snoring I could handle,” Riley snickered, “but it was the moaning that used to get to me.”

 

“Moaning?” Chloe choked out, her wide azure eyes seeking out her friend.

 

“Oh, Dr. Rush!!” Riley mimicked in a perfect imitation of Belle’s sweet voice.

 

Belle groaned and buried her face in her hands, her cheeks burning.  “You realize you’re going to pay for that remark, right?”

 

He wrinkled his nose at her, grinning broadly.

 

Rush looped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, dropping a kiss to her crown.  “It was quite a long road to get us to where we are now, wasn’t it, _mo_ _stór_?”

 

She smiled and rested her head on his shoulder, enjoying his closeness.  Young rose to his feet and held his cup aloft.  “To Dr. French, the heart of Destiny and the only one on board who can make Rush act like a human being instead of the cyborg we always suspected him to be.”

 

Rush rolled his eyes at being the brunt of Everett’s joke, but he was one of the first to raise his cup.  “To Dr. French!” they all chorused.

 

Lisa Park stopped her before Rush could usher her away.  “Wait!  We have a gift for you,” she said, waving Brody away to the kitchen to retrieve it.  “We were going to save this for your birthday next month, but…”

 

Brody set a small wrapped bundle before her, a strip of linen holding it securely closed.  Even Rush seemed interested to see what they’d thrown together for his Belle.  “You lot did _not_ need to do this,” she protested as she reached for the bow.

 

“I hope you like it.  The hydroponics team had hell getting it to come out right,” Brody said lightly.

 

Belle gaped at the contents of the parcel.  The team had taken little bits of dehydrated fruit and somehow hardened them inside a crystalized sugar mixture.  Each one was wrapped in a discarded Jolly Rancher wrapper.  “Oh, guys…” Tears welled up in her eyes as she reached for one and popped it into her mouth.  Her eyes closed and an expression of pure bliss stole over her face.  “This is fabulous.  I don’t know what to say.”

 

Rush leaned over and whispered. “You can say thank you.”

 

“Thank you!  Soo much!”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle rested her head against Nicholas’s shoulder as they leisurely strolled away from the mess, simply enjoying the fact that he wasn’t rushing her back to the control room to get back to work.  “I still can’t believe it,” she whispered dazedly.  “After more than six years and a mad leap through a wormhole, I’ve finally completed my doctorate.  I never thought it would happen.”

 

His lips brushed her brow as he steered her down the corridor that would lead to the observation deck.  “Why not?  You’re brilliant, quick thinking and have a way of never forgetting _anything._   I had little doubt that you would succeed.  If you could manage to work for me as long as you have, you could do anything.”

 

“You put too much faith in me,” she murmured, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.  “I knew I was destined to be your assistant the first time I said ‘I told you so’ and you didn’t toss me out on my butt.”

 

“I think that’s when I fell in love with you.”

 

“Are you sure?  That was only a year after Gloria passed,” she said, stunned that he’d loved her far longer than she’d thought.

 

He pulled her to a stop in the middle of the deserted hallway and wrapped his arms about her shoulders, one hand creeping up into her long unbound tresses to hold her head in place for a tender kiss.  “If it hadn’t been for you, Belle, I never would have realized my dream.  After Gloria died, you forced me to focus on my work.  You refused to let me give up.  It was you who made me see my own life wasn’t over, and you never left my side.  I don’t know how you could stand me the way I was before.”

 

“Because I know what it’s like to lose your love.  It’s like a piece of your soul has been ripped away to leave you bleeding and broken,” she said, pressing her face against his warm chest as her arms circled his waist.  “It took me a long time to find my way, and I was determined to help you find yours as well.”

 

“You did,” he murmured, resting his cheek atop her crown.  “It led me to Destiny and to you.”

 

She sighed, pulling away from him as she linked her fingers with his once more.  “I don’t regret hauling your arse back into the land of the living.  It would have been a pity to see you drown in that scotch you favored so much.”

 

He chuckled as he prodded her towards the observation deck.  “Thankfully, you wouldn’t let me.”  He paused outside of the room and turned to her.  “Now, close your eyes.”

 

“Why?  Are you going to kiss me again?” she purred, pressing herself against him as she looped her arms about his neck.

 

“Always, _mo chroí_ ,” he said, leaning down for a lingering kiss before pulling away again.  “But that’s not why.  I want to give you my gift now.”

 

“Nicholas,” she groaned.  “You don’t have to—“

 

“I know that.  Just indulge me, hm?  It’s not every day my little treasure earns her doctorate.”

 

Warmth spread through her at the endearment, and she complied, more than willing to bow to his wishes if it made him happy.  He took her hands in his, tugging her forward gently until the FTL lights pricked at the front of her lids, telling her exactly where she was.

 

He stepped away from her line of sight and quietly commanded, “Alright, open them.”

 

It took her eyes a moment to adjust to the bright blue and pink aurora surrounding the ship, easily displayed through the vast window on the observation deck, and then she gasped as his gift registered on her.  “Oh Gods!  Is that—“

 

“A bath?  Yes,” he said, his lips curling into a broad smile as he took in the pleasure on her face.  

 

She squealed with delight as she hurried to the large crate filled to near overflowing with steaming water and scented bubbles.  “Wherever did you find the bubbles?”

 

He stepped over to the control panel on the wall and locked the door, ensuring their privacy before joining her.  “Since the showers already have a cleaning solution in the mist, I may have rummaged through your toiletries and found the little bottle of bubble bath you had there.”  He retrieved her little bag from the side of the crate and took out more bottles, these containing body wash, shampoo and conditioner.  “Just think, love, a real bath.”

 

“I love you so much,” she squealed, already reaching for the hem of her shirt to pull it over her head.  “Are you sure we won’t be disturbed?  How did you even get everyone to stay away from here?”

 

Rush shrugged, waving a dismissive hand.  “I may have had a bit of help.”

 

Belle giggled, making quick work of her clothes.  “No wonder you were so amiable at dinner.  You must have really wanted this to ask the colonel for help.”  She paused with her hand on her knickers.  “Why am I nearly naked and you’re still fully dressed?  You’re going to join me aren’t you?”

 

“I didn’t know if—“

 

She cut him off as she reached for the buttons on the black button up crew shirt he was wearing…one of the same shirts she’d found in the Ancient crates just after they’d come on board.  “You most certainly will.  There’s no telling when we’ll have this opportunity again.”  She pushed the shirt back over his shoulders, appreciating the way it slid silkily over his arms to fall to the floor as she left a series of little bites along his collar bone.  Her hand cupped his semi-erect cock through the stiff denim of his jeans, swallowing the low moan that escaped his throat as her mouth found his.  “And it would be such a shame to let this go to waste.”

 

She was the sculptor, he the clay as she quickly discarded his belt and slid his jeans and boxers over his hips to catch on his boots.  He quickly toed those off and hefted her into his arms to easily step over the edge of the crate and splash down with a plop into the steaming water, his mouth never leaving hers, his tongue gliding sinuously next to her own.

 

Belle pulled away, scooting back to sit on his knees as she cupped her hands to gather water and dump over his head.  “Hey!”

 

“Oh hush,” she laughed, thoroughly wetting his shaggy hair before reaching for the bottle of shampoo from her bag.  He sat back and closed his eyes as she worked it through the long strands, her nails scraping gently over his scalp.  “I need to trim your hair when I can get you away from the control room long enough.”

 

“It’s fine,” he grumbled, his fingers kneading the smooth curve of her hip as he nipped lightly at the hollow of her throat. 

 

She smacked his shoulder.  “Patience, darling.  And no it’s not fine.  Soon it will be as long as mine.  I might need to get with TJ and Chloe to see who else might be interested.  What do you think?” she asked, making him lean back so she could rinse his hair.

 

“I think that’s why the colonel called you _the heart of Destiny…_ because you’re always organizing something to the benefit of the crew,” he sighed, enjoying her surprise nearly as much as she was.  He gave himself a mental pat on the back for having such a stroke of genius.

 

She ducked her head beneath the surface of the water, wetting her hair before she gave him her back so he could return the favor.  A low moan sounded in her throat as his long fingers worked the shampoo through her hair.  “Ooh, that feels so good.”  She considered what he’d said.  “And I don’t see as how I work any harder aboard ship than anyone else.”

 

“You might not realize it, _mo chroí_ , but you do.  You seem to be able to keep morale at an optimum level.”

 

She leaned her head back so he could rinse her hair and sighed.  “I was a princess once upon a time.  It was my duty to entertain visiting nobles with various activities during their stay in my home.  We didn’t have television and computers to send people into mindless bliss which is now so common in today’s society.”

 

He pulled her back against him, her head falling to rest on his shoulder.  “You really were a princess before the beast came to take you away?” he chuckled, flashing back to the memory he’d glimpsed while they’d been linked to the chair.

 

“Yeah I was,” she admitted ruefully.  “I lived in a castle and had all my choices made for me by people who had power over me.  Even my future husband was chosen for me.  My deal with Rumpelstiltskin was the first real decision I made for myself and I don’t regret it for a moment.  I saved my people and I found my true love.”  She turned her head, her lips ghosting along his stubbled jaw.  “When he died… Well, I never thought I’d find another.”

 

“It still seems rather hard to believe,” he replied, gently massaging the tension from her shoulders.

 

“Which part,” she laughed.  “That I was a princess or that you’re my true love?”

 

“Both,” he said, nipping at her ear.  “I still don’t know why you’d want to tie yourself to me, Belle.  I’m so much older than you, cranky…”

 

“…stubborn, pig-headed, a workaholic…yes I can see the drawbacks,” she retorted dryly, turning in his embrace to wrap her arms about his neck.  She straddled his thighs and leaned in to gently kiss his lips.  “You are also loving, gentle, kind and caring, Nicholas.  Not with everyone,” she amended when he raised a dubious brow, “but you _are_ all those things with me.  I love you; it just took me a while to trust my heart and admit it.”

 

He pulled her closer, one arm wrapping around her back, his hand delving into her newly washed locks.  “I love you too, my Belle,” he breathed out, finding her soft pink lips with his own, his tongue gliding over the seam as he coaxed her to open for him.

 

Belle’s hand slipped into his hair, her fingers tightening in the strands as she gave herself over to the pleasure he promised.  They battled for dominance of the kiss until Belle sucked gently on his tongue, drawing it into her mouth with a moan.  She broke away when the need to breathe became too much, trailing her lips along his jaw, reveling in the bristly texture of his skin against hers.  Her teeth scored the flesh beneath his ear and he bucked reflexively beneath her.

 

Another moan tore from her throat as his short blunt nails raked over her back, his pleasure becoming hers.  She stroked over his shoulders, down his chest, her fingers tweaking lightly at the flat buds of his nipples until he groaned and burrowed into the crook of her neck, biting sharply at her flesh.  She was careful of the still sensitive scar left behind from his surgery and dipped her head to place a light kiss along the bright pink flesh.  It still had a scab in spots, but for the most part it had healed quickly.  Heat coursed through her, the tension building low in her belly.  Her breath caught in her throat as he worked his way over her collarbone, leaving a series of bites to match the one he’d left on her neck, his mark of possession, a statement to the crew that she belonged to no one but him.  She would wear them proudly, wanting nothing more than to be claimed by this wonderful man who’d given her his heart.

 

He was hers just as much as she was his and she didn’t care who knew it.  The whispers, the barely concealed glances that judged her for choosing to be with him didn’t mean a thing to her.  It wasn’t the first time she’d been with a man no one understood and then shunned her because they didn’t.  Her nails dug sharply into the smooth flesh over his ribs as he reached a hand between them, his fingers gently caressing her mound.  “Nicholas…”

 

Belle cried out as he delved two fingers inside, her inner walls clasping him in welcome as she tossed her head back, overwhelmed with sensation as he stroked her.  She mewled softly as his thumb brushed her clit, circling yet never giving her the direct contact she craved.  She gripped him tightly, her lips finding his again and again as she lost herself in his touch.  She broke around him, only a cry of his name echoing in the large room, her folds clasping and clenching him as she collapsed forward onto his chest.  He pulled her forward, her quivering core coming in contact with his turgid length. She gasped at the feeling of his cock throbbing against her clit.

 

Reaching between them, she wrapped her hand around him, his eyes darkening with desire and ill-concealed lust as she gave him a few sharp pulls.  His fingers dug painfully into her hips as he fought to keep from spilling himself in her hand, and she knew she’d bear a few bruises the next day.  It was worth it, however, to see him wrecked and needy in her grasp, the knowledge that she’d done that to him as heady and powerful as any drug.

 

“What do you want, my love?” she asked, her warm breath fanning over his lips as she sucked gently at his lower lip, a wicked gleam in her eyes as she teased him.

 

“You, Belle…inside…please, _mo stór_ …” He pleaded with her, his words barely discernable as his accent thickened with need.  He let his head fall back against the side of the crate which served as their bathtub and groaned as she raised herself above him and guided his pulsing cock to her entrance.  “Belle…”

 

Rush’s eyes rolled back in his head, his mouth going slack with pleasure as she slowly sank down onto him with a low cry, enveloping him in her heat.  She remained still, savoring the feeling of him so deep inside her, the pleasant pressure low in her belly building once more as fire sparked in her blood.  His hands trailed along her sides, thumbs caressing the sensitive undersides of her breasts as she rolled her hips in a steady rhythm.  The water from their bath lapped gently at them, only adding to the myriad sensation against her skin, but it was the heat of his mouth closing over her warm flesh, the slow draw of his lips over her nipple that had her crying out.

 

Her hands delved into his hair, holding him fast to her as his hips thrust up to meet her, unable to hold back any longer.  It was as if a current of pure electricity flowed between his mouth on her breasts and his throbbing cock buried in her core.  Too much, yet not enough.  She was lost in a whirlwind of heat and fire and pleasure and _Rush_ until it was too much and the fullness of him sliding sinuously in and out of her caused her to break, the shatter into a million pieces only to have his gentle hand ground her and put her back together again.  She stiffened in his arms, her thighs quivering as they fought to support her as wave upon wave of pleasure raced through her.

 

His thrusts became erratic, his pace quickening as he felt her shudder and break around him, the tight silky heat pulling him over the edge.  He pressed his face into the crook of her neck where it met her shoulder, biting gently at the mark he’d left on her, suckling the flesh into his mouth again and again until it showed dark against her creamy paleness.  “ _My_ Belle,” he breathed, his chest heaving as he fought to come down from his lust induced high, his hands gently traversing the expanse of her back to soothe her as well.

 

With one last kiss, he turned her in his arms, her hips cradled by his thighs, her back to his chest.  He nuzzled her ear as he focused his languid gaze on the path of the ship through the stars, the FTL lights casting a brilliant glow on his love’s skin.  She turned her head and smile up at him, pressing a soft whisper of a kiss just beneath his jaw.  “Best present ever,” she whispered.

 

Rush sighed and squeezed her tightly to let her know he’d heard her.  It was worth owing the colonel a favor if this small gift brought his girl so much happiness.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle swept into the control room, beaming at Rush as she slipped onto the stool beside him.  “Are you ready for lunch?” she asked, her eyes raking over the work he was doing on the console.

 

“Five more minutes,” he murmured distractedly.

 

She left him to it, knowing it would be better to let him finish, otherwise they’d be there for hours.  She glanced over at Brody, who was working with Eli.  “How are the repairs coming to the Dome?  We’re running out of room in the hydroponics lab with all the new seeds we found in the latest raid on the Ancient crates and are in desperate room for a bigger space.  The colonel agrees with the rest of the team that it would make a wonderful arboretum.”

 

Brody nodded.  “That would be the perfect space, however, it still needs a lot of work.  We’ve begun the repairs, but it’s going to take time…a month or two at best.”

 

The FTL drive’s low hum decelerated and Rush finally lifted his head from the console.  “We’ve got other worries.”  He turned to Belle as he rose from his seat, holding out his hand to her.  “Shall we go to the gate room and see what the Kino can show us of the new planet?”

 

Belle linked her fingers with his and trailed along at his side, Eli and Brody following at their own pace.  The gate had already dialed out when they arrived and Riley manned the controls for the Kino while Volker waited to go over the readings it would send back to the ship.  Chloe and the colonel were waiting there as well, curious as to what they’d encounter this time.

 

“What’ve we got?” Rush asked, nudging Volker away from the primary console to see for himself.

 

“Take a look,” Everett said, gesturing to the screen.

 

“Are those buildings?” Belle asked from her position at Rush’s left.

 

“Were,” Eli corrected from where he shared the secondary console with Chloe and Volker.  “They look like ruins.”

 

“It’s the first sign of civilization we’ve encountered on a planet out here,” Volker added.  “No signs of life, though.”

 

Eli perked up considerably.  “We should go check it out!”  It would do him a world of good to have a break and get off the ship for a while.  “Come on, guys, who’s up for a field trip?”

 

Belle huffed a short laugh as Rush glanced up at the countdown clock over the door.  “Six hours,” he hummed, turning his attention back to the Kino footage.  “That’s not much time.”

 

Young clicked the com button on his radio.  “Scott, come in.  You and Greer gear up to go down to the planet.”

 

“Yes, sir,” came Scott’s reply.  “Fifteen minutes.”

 

Eli brightened further as he approached the colonel.  “I’d like to go.”

 

“Me too!” Chloe chirped.  Everyone stopped and turned to look at her and she glanced down sheepishly, realizing she had no good reason to go.

 

Eli quickly came to her rescue.  “She’s been studying all of Dr. Jackson’s work.”  He looked over to her.  “Plus, didn’t you say you took ancient history?”

 

“I did, at Harvard,” she answered, trying to keep the grin from blooming on her face at her friend’s obvious ploy.  “And Belle can come too.  With her knowledge of Ancient languages, the two of us can probably compile a mountain of data to discover more about the beings who built those structures.”

 

“No.”

 

Everyone tuned to look at Rush who gave an emphatic shake of his head.

 

“Oh, here we go,” Everett groaned, leaning heavily on the console.  “I suppose you have a good reason this time for not wanting her to go besides just ‘no’?”

 

The scientist’s teeth gnashed together as he ignored their pointed stares.  “I have another hour on the work I’m doing and can’t accompany her.  That’s reason enough.”

 

“Nicholas,” Belle chuckled.  “The terrain is flat, there are no deep crevices or ravines for me to fall into this time, and we won’t be foraging.  What would it hurt to let me go and perhaps find something interesting for you to study further,” she asked, appealing to his thirst for knowledge of any kind.  “Then when you finish up your work, you could join us.”

 

“And Scott and Greer will be there to keep an eye out for danger,” Eli piped in.

 

“Yes,” Rush snapped acidly.  “Because they took such grand care of her last time!”

 

“Please, Dr. Rush?” Chloe asked, a pleading note in her voice.

 

Rush scowled at the three pairs of ‘puppy’ eyes staring back at him and rolled his own eyes.  “One hour, Belle, and then I’ll join you.  I’m sure you can do without some catastrophe befalling you in so short a time.”

 

Belle stuck her tongue out at him as Chloe squealed with delight and grabbed her hand.  Eli followed them to the bay where they could suit up for their foray down to the planet, shaking his head at his friend’s uplift in mood.  It would do them _all_ some good to have a break.  Hopefully, it would be fun too…at least until their cantankerous lead scientist joined them.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

“Why do you get a gun?” Eli asked as he stepped onto the platform next to Belle, ready to step into the event horizon.

 

“Because I trained her to use it,” Greer snarked from behind him.  “Now move.”

 

“Wait!” Belle said, turning to look at the team. “Did you bring enough water?”  She shifted the small pack on her back, a spare Kino remote, blanket, several protein bars and three canteens, weighing her down.  She still believed in preparedness…now more than ever after having been stranded on the barren planet.

 

“We’re good, Dr. French,” Scott said, smiling indulgently at her.

 

She nodded patiently at the young lieutenant and stepped through the puddle, Eli at her side and Chloe following behind.  “Wow,” she exclaimed, turning to her friends.  “The Kino really couldn’t do this place justice.”  The radio on her belt crackled, communications flowing between the ship and their walkies easily with the gate open.

 

“Belle, are you—“

 

“Fine, Nicholas.  Hurry up!  The planet is splendid and you don’t want to miss out,” she said, clipping it back to her waist and ignoring the snickers from her friends.  “What?  So he’s a bit overprotective.”

 

“Oh, is that what you call it?” Greer deadpanned.

 

Chloe giggled.  “This is so awesome.”

 

“Yeah, and it doesn’t look like anybody’s been here for a long time,” Eli said as they came to stand at the edge of the ruins.

 

Scott checked his watch.  “Well, we have a little under six hours to figure out what happened.  Let’s look around.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

“I don’t want to go down there,” Belle protested, looking pointedly at her feet.

 

They were standing at the top of a flight of steps which led underground, watching the screen on the Kino remote as it traveled though the dark stone catacombs below them.  Apparently, Eli had made a wrong turn and it would be prudent for them to search for the lost Kino and the data it might have recorded.

 

“Oh come on, you’re being silly.  Don’t you want to see what’s down there?” Eli cajoled, turning his wide dark eyes on her.

 

“No, I’m pretty sure I don’t,” she insisted.

 

Eli grinned unrepentantly as he searched his mind for a logical excuse to explore.  “What if there’s a power source down there capable of dialing back to Earth?”

 

Scott shook his head.  “Oh, come on!  That’s farfetched even for you.”

 

“You never know!”

 

“These people don’t look like they were that advanced,” the lieutenant said, trying to reason with him.

 

“Actually, many advanced alien civilizations found in the Milky Way and Pegasus galaxies lived in what appeared to be primitive stone architecture that concealed _extremely_ powerful technology,” Chloe intoned swiftly.

 

Eli looked around at her in surprise while Greer and Scott shared a dubious look.  “Ok, you’ve been spending entirely too much time with the doctors Rush.”

 

“I beg your pardon?” Belle asked, staring at him incredulously.

 

Eli shrugged.  “Oh, come on, you know it’s just a matter of time.”

 

Belle made a gurgling sound of dismay in her throat, before catching herself and giving him a pointed look.  “Can’t we just go back to the ship without the Kino?”

 

“No,” the boy insisted.  “The footage may be important.  It shouldn’t take long to find it and we’ll be back before Dr. Rush joins us.”

 

Belle didn’t even want to think of how Nicholas would react to this new development.  Greer looked around, surveying the surrounding area.  “Alright, you guys see if you can find it.  I’m gonna stay up here and cover your backs.”

 

“What? You scared?” Eli joked.

 

Greer’s head snapped around towards the boy, his gaze burning into Eli despite the dark glasses covering his eyes.

 

“That was a joke!” Eli quickly assured him, almost fearful of the animosity radiating from the master sergeant.  “I’m sorry!  I must have mistakenly thought we were on that level now.”  He smiled, trying to make light of the situation.  “Y’know, friends who can kid each other like that!”  Greer took off his sunglasses and glared at him.  “Please don’t kill me,” Eli whined.

 

“C’mon, sergeant, you can take up the rear.  We won’t go far,” Scott said, clearly trying to diffuse the situation.

 

“I don’t want to go,” Belle said again, more than a little uncomfortable with the looming darkness at the bottom of the staircase, sweat beginning to bead on her brow as terror gripped her stomach to twist it in knots.

 

Chloe pulled Belle to the side as Eli and Scott led the way into the catacombs.  “Are you okay?  I thought TJ was working with you to help with your claustrophobia problem.”

 

“She is,” Belle murmured weakly, “but Nicholas is there to support me and I just don’t think I want to put it to the test without him here.”

 

Chloe rubbed gently at her friend’s shoulder in sympathy.  “We need to stick together, though.  Let me be your support,” she said brightly, wrapping an arm about her.  “We’ll do this together and the guys will be there too.  We won’t let anything happen to you.”

She retrieved two flashlights from her pack and pressed one into Belle’s hand as she led her towards the top of the stairs, Greer only steps behind them.  Belle shifted the strap of her pack over her shoulder and clasped the torch tightly in her hand as she descended into the dark, the cold, trying to ignore the shudder that rippled through her as the walls of the catacomb threatened to close in on her.

 

They’d walked for maybe fifteen minutes when Eli turned sharply at a strange sound—a bit like a long whoosh of air-his eyes searching through the dim light for the cause.  “What was that?”

 

“Probably wind,” Scott said in a bored tone, ready to be done with their search.

 

“Anyone else think we’ve seen enough?” Chloe asked nervously, beginning to feel more than a little uncomfortable.  She was worried about Belle, who hadn’t said a word since entering the catacombs.  It was taking all her concentration to keep moving forward with the rest of the team without falling apart.

 

Chloe took her eyes from the passageway for a moment to glance down at her friend and walked straight into a giant cobweb, quickly becoming entangled in the sticky mass.  “Oh!  Oh God!  Get it off!  Get it off!” she shrieked, flailing as she tried to free herself.

 

Seeing her friend in distress, Belle gathered up the last of her courage and pulled at the sticky webbing with trembling hands, hoping that whatever had made it was long gone by now.  “It’s okay, Chloe,” she said, removing the last of the mess from the girl. “I’ve got it.”

 

“Alright,” Scott said, shaking his head.  “That’s our cue to get out of here.”

 

Chloe nodded, relieved that they’d be returning to the surface, but none more so than Belle.  Greer lifted his rifle, his torch strapped above the scope, his eyes trained on something just over their shoulder.  Belle was afraid to look.  “Stop!” he commanded softly.  “Don’t move.”

 

Belle froze, feeling the girl’s terror wash over her.  “What, Ronald?  What do you see?” she asked, trying to keep calm so as not to make Chloe’s terror worse.  Apparently the beastie which had made the web was still in residence.

 

Greer raised his rifle, taking aim at the spider, the biggest he’d ever seen, at least two feet long with long spindly legs in proportion to its body crawling upside down along the ceiling towards them.  It stopped and hissed savagely.  Eli and Scott beckoned to the girls, waving frantically to get them moving.  “Run!”

 

Belle lunged forward, pulling Chloe with her and Greer opened fire.  The spider tumbled down from the ceiling, dangling from its web and Greer fired again.  As it dropped to the floor, its legs curling in on itself, the ceiling disintegrated.  Greer dove for cover, the entire ceiling collapsing and crashing to the stone floor.  As the dust began to clear, Belle chanced a look at her teammates, wanting to reassure herself that they were alright.

 

Eli cleared the dust from his throat with a series of coughs and glared dolefully up at Greer.  “I think you got it.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

“Brody and Volker have the control room while I’m gone.  Hopefully, Belle will not want to stay much longer,” Rush said to the colonel as he strapped a small pack to his back, Belle’s tendency to be prepared seeming to have rubbed off on him.

 

“I’m sure they’ll be fine until you get back and I’ll let you know if something comes—“

 

“Colonel Young, this is Scott, sir. Do you read?” the lieutenant said amidst a barrage of coughing over the radio.

 

Rush glared at the radio in Young’s hand as the man lifted it closer to his mouth.  The hairs stood up on the back of his neck and he swung his gaze toward the gate, ready to be off. 

 

“Go ahead, Lieutenant.”

 

“Glad to hear your voice, sir.  We…ah…we’re in a bit of a pickle down here,” he stammered, still trying to clear the dust from his airways.

 

“What?”

 

“We…er…we’re trapped in an underground tunnel.  We were exploring the ruins and Sergeant Greer was forced to fire his weapon.  The tunnel…uh…the tunnel collapsed on us.  No one is hurt.  Eli, Chloe and Belle are looking for another way out, but if they can’t find one we’re gonna need help getting out of here, sir.”

 

The color drained from Rush’s face as he turned to hurry towards the gate.  He snarled at Everett as the colonel clamped down on his shoulder to forestall his departure.  “Just wait, Rush.  Let’s see if—“

 

“ _You_ wait!  In the meantime, my Belle is trapped in the dark and I’m not there to help her!”

 

“And there’s no need to go off half-cocked before we know how to help them,” Young said, trying to reason with him.  “He already said no one was hurt.”  He lifted the radio again as Rush seemed to get his temper under control.  “Scott, why was Sergeant Greer forced to use his weapon?”

 

The lieutenant hesitated for a moment, his voice dry and humorless when he answered.  “There was a…spider, sir.  It was approaching Dr. French and Chloe.”

 

“A…spider,” the colonel returned, arching a brow in disbelief.  He’d thought his men better trained than that.

 

“It was a sizable spider, sir.”

 

“Dr. Rush is on his way now,” he said, no longer able to restrain the man.  “I’ll send a team along behind him.  Young out.”

 

Riley, manning the console, called out to Rush before he could slip through the puddle.  “We have less than two hours until we jump, Dr. Rush.  Maybe—“  His words didn’t deter the scientist from sprinting through the puddle and making a mad dash through the wormhole.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle shook her head as she, Chloe and Eli returned from their brief search.  “Nothing,” she murmured dejectedly as she reached for her pack for a fresh canteen to ease her parched throat.  “We haven't found any other sort of exit or access to ground level..”

 

Scott paced back and forth   “This is my fault. We shouldn't have come down here.”

 

“Well, there is good news,” Eli said brightly.  “We haven’t run into any more spiders.”  
  
“There's gotta be more than one way in and out of here.”  Scott watched Greer shift some of the rock, but realized it would take far longer than they had to dig their way out.  He looked at the others.  “Rush is on his way with a team.”

 

“Ah!” Eli said, throwing his hands up in exasperation.  “And what are they gonna do?”

 

Belle sighed and wrapped her arms about herself as she shifted closer to Chloe for support.  “Don’t underestimate Nicholas,” she said, giving the boy a pointed look.  “I would’ve thought you’d have learned by now.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Vanessa frowned at the team she was leading as they dug furiously at the tunnel entrance, realizing the futility of their endeavor.  Rush’s hands were already cut and bleeding from the sharp jagged pieces of granite and stone barring their entry, but he refused to give up and snarled at anyone who told him to abandon his task.

 

She stepped out of earshot of the team and tried to get Scott on the radio.  “Scott, it’s James, do you read?”

 

“James, we hear you.  Where are you?”

 

She adjusted the volume on the device.  “We just found the tunnel entrance. Rush, Dunning and Rivers are working to shift the rock.  Is everyone OK down there?”  
  
“Yeah, we're fine,” he assured her.  “Look, uh, how bad is it?”

 

“IF YOU’RE NOT GOING TO HELP, STAY THE FUCK OUT OF THE WAY!”

 

“I take it that was Rush,” Scott sighed, “If he’s that upset, I guess things don’t look good up there.”

“Don’t worry, Scott, we’re gonna get you out of there.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle rested her brow on her knees as she sat on the floor of the tunnel, gently rocking back and forth as she fought to stave off the panic.  Time was running out and the explosives Vanessa’s team had used hadn’t helped at all…unless making the structure even more unstable was their idea of helping.  The one time she’d talked to Rush on the radio, he’d done little more than yell at her for agreeing to go on the mission and threaten to wring her _lovely_ neck when he got her back.  She couldn’t remember ever hearing so much panic in his voice even when Icarus had been falling apart around them.

 

“The colonel has ordered the team back to Destiny,” Scott said solemnly as he sat down beside her, holding out his radio to her in a silent invitation.

 

Belle took it from him, disregarding the one clipped to her belt.  She steeled herself against the turmoil twisting her stomach in vicious knots and pressed the com button.  “Vanessa?”

 

“Yeah, Dr. French?”

 

“Let me speak to Dr. Rush, please,” she said, relieved that she’d been able to keep her voice steady.  She could hear the shifting of rock, the thickening of his brogue as he mumbled to himself in deep concentration.  She could almost picture the panic in his eyes as he worked feverishly to free her from her prison.  At least she wasn’t alone this time, she thought ruefully.  She wasn’t alone, but she didn’t have him and it was comparable to the torture of the twenty eight years she’d spent as Regina’s prisoner.

 

“I can’t talk right now, lieutenant,” he snarled.  “Have to move this, have to get to her.”

 

Vanessa laid a gentle hand on his shoulder and pushed the radio at him.  “It’s Belle, Dr. Rush,” she said softly.  “Talk to her.”  She gave him his privacy, sending everyone back to Destiny, but she didn’t go so far that she couldn’t hear the petite scientist speak softly to Rush.

 

“Nicholas?  Nicholas, are you there?”

 

He choked back a sob as he winced, the radio digging into the cuts on his palm.  “I-I’m here, _mo stór_ ,” he said, his voice barely more than a whisper.  “Almost there, Belle.  Hang on for me a little longer, yeah?”

 

Belle pressed her lips in a thin line at the fear in his voice, cursing herself for not staying behind with him on Destiny.  He needed her and she wouldn’t be there to…  “Nicholas, you need to return to the ship…now.”

 

“NO!”

 

Tears coursed down her face and she had to bite down on her lip to stop the wail of anguish that threatened to tear her throat apart.  “Please, Nicholas.  Destiny needs you.  You can’t abandon them for the sake of one person.”  And she knew for a fact he was working so diligently, not for the team, nor her friends, but _her_.  “They—“

 

“To hell with them.  I don’t—“  He broke off as his face fell.  He dropped down to his knees amidst the loose rock and broken rubble, the pain in his legs nothing compared to the agony in his breaking heart.  “I can’t leave you.”

The tears were evident in her voice when it came over the radio once more, unable to keep them at bay any longer.  “You’re our only chance.  You’re the only one who can figure out how to break the master code…the only one who can discover a way to come back for us.  Please, Nicholas.”

 

“I just need more time…”

 

Scott, Eli and Greer focused on shifting the rock on their side of the barricade, leaving her to say her goodbyes.  Chloe wrapped an arm about her shoulders, refusing to leave her to her grief.  “There is no more time, my love.  You have to go…”

 

The sound he made could barely be described as human.  It was so filled with pain and loss, it tore at her heart and left her broken and bleeding.  “I _promised_ I wouldn’t leave you, Belle.  You can’t ask me to break my vow.  You can’t!”

 

“I love you, Nicholas,” she sobbed into the radio.  “You’ll find a way to bring us home.  I have faith in you.”  He wept openly on the other end of the line.  She covered her mouth with a hand to stop her own sobs from becoming discernable over the air waves. 

 

“No, no, no, no, no!  Belle!”

 

“Vanessa!” she called, knowing the lieutenant could hear her.  “Vanessa, make sure he gets back to Destiny!  Please!  Don’t let him stay there!”

 

“No, Belle, I’m not leaving.  I’m going to get you out!  I-I’ll-”

 

She heard a thump as his words cut off and it was Vanessa’s voice that came over the link.  “I had to knock him out, Belle.  I’m sorry.”

 

“No, it’s okay.  Please…just get him back to Destiny.  He’ll be angry and impossible, but at least…” her voice broke on another sob.  “At least I know he’ll be safe.”  She wept softly as Scott took the radio from her numb fingers.

 

“James, do as she says.  Get back to the ship,” he said quietly, resigned to his fate.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

The colonel hurried to James’s side as she came through the event horizon and helped relieve her of Rush’s weight as they carried him to the infirmary.  “You might want to check your weapon, sir.  It’s not going to be pretty when he comes to,” she said as they heaved him onto a gurney.

 

“What happened?” TJ said, coming out from her office area.  “Did he get caught in another cave in?”

 

“Um…not exactly,” the lieutenant grimaced.  “I might have whacked him on the back of the head with the butt of my sidearm.”

 

TJ didn’t bat an eye as she reached for her kit.  “What the hell happened to his hands?” she asked, pulling on a pair of gloves.  She lifted his left and examined it carefully before reaching for a cloth and a bottle of antiseptic to clean the mangled and bleeding flesh of his palm.  With further inspection, she noticed his right was worse.

 

“He was trying to shift the rock away from the tunnel entrance,” James said, looking away from the bleeding mess of the doctor’s hands to meet TJ’s eyes.

 

TJ shook her head and began bandaging his hands before turning to Everett.  “Colonel, can you please grab an ice pack from the freezer?”

 

“Thank you, lieutenant,” Young said, offering Vanessa a weak smile.  “Well done.”

 

She nodded and left the infirmary, leaving the two of them to tend to Rush.  TJ peeked at him from beneath her lashes as she examined the back of Nicholas’s head.  She winced as her fingers brushed against the large lump and reached for the pack.  Rush groaned as it came into contact with his wound.

 

“I can’t believe you let him do this.  Has it escaped your notice that he’s still recovering from surgery?” she scolded, reaching for the hem of Rush’s green t-shirt.  She breathed a sigh of relief after her examination and found no blood or oozing around the thick scab that covered his incision.  It may not pain him any longer, but it was still healing.

 

“You should know Rush well enough now to know he very seldom listens to anything I say, Tamara,” he said gently, knowing she was just worried about the man.

 

“Belle?” she asked, feeling the sting of tears behind her eyes.  “Chloe…”

 

“We’ll find a way to get them back.”

 

She covered her mouth with her hand, turning away from her former love.  One more thing to add to the myriad worries that already plagued her.  It was all too much and the tears spilled over her lashes to course unchecked over her ashen cheeks.

 

Everett pulled her struggling form into his arms, unconcerned for regulations, hard feelings or who might walk in on them.  All he knew was the woman he loved was in pain and he was determined to comfort her if she’d let him.  “Shh, Tamara…we’ll get them back…I promise.”

 

TJ pushed weakly against his chest and then gave up when she realized the futility of her actions.  She didn’t _want_ to push him away any longer.  She was tired of fighting.  Her head fell against his shoulder as she cried, deep heaving sobs for things she couldn’t change.  “I’m so tired of losing people, Everett,” she murmured, her voice barely intelligible through her tears.  “You should have left me on the Genesis planet.  At least then I could have raised…”

 

His lips brushed against her temple in a feather light kiss as he stroked her back.  “What, sweetheart?”

 

She cried harder at hearing the endearment, burying her face in his neck.  “I’m…I’m pregnant.  If you’d left me I could have raised o-our child somewhere safe instead of on this death machine.”

 

Young stiffened and closed his eyes as her words registered.  Child… _his_ child…theirs.  He opened them to find her staring back at him with alarm and he cursed himself for causing her distress.  “Are you sure?” he couldn’t help but ask.

 

TJ took his hand and moved her open jacket aside to place it on the small swell of her belly.  “Yeah…pretty sure.”

 

“Tamara…” he breathed, backing her into the cabinet behind her.  He cradled her face in his large hands as his lips found hers.

 

TJ gave in, melting into his embrace.  It had been so long since she’d been held like that, too long since she’d felt her lover’s hands on her bare skin and she couldn’t help but give in to the heat that never failed to spark between them.  Then reality came crashing back over her like a derailed train.  “What about Emily?” she asked, breaking away to look up at him.

 

He pressed his brow to hers.  “I signed the divorce papers a week ago.  I just…I didn’t tell you because I didn’t think you wanted me anymore.”

 

“I’ve always wanted you, Everett,” she whispered, giving a little squeak as he embraced her tightly.

 

“I want you too… _and_ our baby.  We’ll work everything else out, Tamara.  Just say the word.”

 

Rush groaned, drawing her attention and she pushed out of Young’s arms to hurry to his side.  “Belle!” he growled, heaving himself up onto an elbow as he tried to sit up.  Eyes almost black stabbed at the colonel.  “You!!!  You left them.  Why couldn’t I have stayed?!”

 

“Rush, it was what Belle wanted,” Young said, his tone calm.  “You’re the only one who can get them back.  You couldn’t do that if you’d stayed there on the planet.”

 

“Bastard!” he snarled, stumbling to his feet.  He pushed TJ’s hands away as she reached for his head and made his way out of the infirmary.  He had work to do and neither his anger nor his desire to beat the colonel into a bloody mess was going to get his Belle back.

 

“Well that went better than expected,” Young said, reaching for TJ again. “And no one got shot,” he chuckled, wrapping his arms around her from behind and rubbing a soothing hand over her belly, marveling at the small bump there.  “You never answered me.”

 

TJ leaned back into his embrace.  “You have work to do.”

 

“It can wait,” he murmured, resting his chin atop her shoulder.

 

“So can your answer,” she smiled.  “I’ll see you at dinner.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Rush didn’t raise his eyes from the console as Young came into the control room, not even when  the colonel set a cup of tea next to his elbow and hovered nearby wanting to ask a myriad of questions.  He ignored him.  He had work to do and fighting with the man would only delay that.  It was difficult not to give in to the urge, the all-consuming rage humming just beneath his skin.  There was nothing to save the man from his wrath if he chose to give in to it.  Belle wasn’t there to bring him back, to calm, to soothe, or to chase away the rage.  He slammed his hand against the console.  No, she was left on a fucking planet, trapped underground leagues away and there was nothing he could do about it!

 

“Any progress?” Young asked, keeping his distance from the man despite his desire to see the screen and try to discern what he was working on.

 

“There’d be a lot more _progress_ if you hadn’t posted a guard on the chair room prohibiting me from gleaning some real answers,” he sneered, still refraining from looking at his superior.

 

“Rush, you nearly died last time and Belle’s not here to—“

 

“That’s right,” he said, baring his teeth.  “She’s not here!  So why don’t you leave me the hell alone so I can figure out how to GET HER BACK!”

 

“Do you think I wanted to leave her? Any of them?” Young asked incredulously.  “With Belle and Eli trapped there, I couldn’t let you stay behind!  We need you… _they_ need you!  Now suck it up and focus on the problem.”

“Well, the problem is more complicated than what I’d originally thought,” Rush growled, pulling up the holo-screen in the center of the room.  “The stargate aboard this ship is much more primitive than the later models found in the Milky Way.”  He pointed to the screen as the colonel moved towards it for a better look.  “As you can see from this map, each time Destiny stops, it’s in range of only a small group of gates.  That means the next time we drop out of FTL, the planet the team was stranded on will no longer be in range of Destiny.  However, Colonel, we won’t know if the planet they were left on is reachable _until_ we’ve dropped out of FTL.”

 

Brody looked up from his console and leveled the colonel with a pointed stare.  “We’ve been working on our own map, based on our records of where Destiny has been thus far.”

 

The colonel looked confused.  “I thought Destiny _had_ a map of where it’s been.”

 

Rush crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Young.  “Yeah, but we’re trying to create a clearer picture of the entire galaxy where—“

 

Everett raked a hand through his hair in exasperation.  “Rush, just cut to the chase, willya?!”

 

“I was hoping to have some better news, but if I’m right, then we are at the very edge of this galaxy…”

 

“Well, how’s that bad news? We know that Destiny travels between galaxies,” Young said, his brow furrowed once more as he tried to follow Rush’s line of thought.

 

“Yeah but the space between galaxies is _huge_ , vast and empty.”

 

Young nodded.  “You think that’s why that power-saving protocol kicked in?” he asked, referring to their loss of power all over the ship that had begun an hour ago.  As if they didn’t have enough problems already.

 

“I don’t know.  It could be, but more importantly, there will be no more gates, no chance of dialing back to this system.  If we don’t find them the next time we drop out of FTL, we won’t have another chance.”

 

“Alright, get someone on the power issue,” Everett said, not wanting to even think of the possibility of leaving his team behind for good.  “We’ve got several systems down.”

 

Young turned to leave the control room.  “Figure it out, gentlemen.  We can’t very well work in the dark.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle barely paid attention to the conversation between her friends as she followed them through the catacombs.  They had water for two days and a concern of where they’d find more, as well as food.  She couldn’t have cared less, the hopeless note in Rush’s voice from their last conversation refusing to leave her.  Their first priority was to get out of the tunnels to somehow make their way back to the gate.  Between her and Eli, surely they could find a way back.

 

“Can’t we use the gates to catch up to Destiny?” Scott asked as they turned down another tunnel.

 

Eli shrugged, which was never a good sign in Belle’s opinion.  He doubted himself more than he should.  “In order to connect the dots between here and Destiny, there have to be gates in range of each other between this planet and wherever Destiny stops next.”  He braced himself to deliver more bad news.  “Plus, this remote only tells you which gates are in range of this planet, not where they are.  There’s no way to know which direction we’d be going.  Oh, and in case that’s not bad enough we have no idea where Destiny went.”

 

“Enough with the doom and gloom, Eli.  We’re going to get back,” Belle said, rubbing wearily at her temple.  She was unwilling to believe that she’d never see Nicholas again.  If she gave up her hope… no, she refused to think like that.

 

Eli wasn’t silent for long, which surprised no one.  “It’s crazy,” he said irritably.  “You’d think some of these tunnels would lead _somewhere_.  No wonder the people that built this place died out—probably all got lost down here.  Just wandered around thinking, ‘Oh, if only we’d thought to put in a few more exits’.  Or maybe one of those maps you see in a shopping mall with a big red dot…”  He pointed down at his t-shirt.  “You are here.  How hard is that?  I’d kill for a big red dot right now.”

“Eli, dearie,” Belle bit out.  “Why don’t you focus your attention on the gates instead of shopping mall directories, hm?  We know that Destiny is travelling down a path—-basically a corridor of gates left behind by the seed ships.”

 

Eli dropped down on his haunches, pulling Belle down with him.  “People don’t realize how big a galaxy is.  Let’s say the gates in range of the planet we’re on…” He picked up a large stone and set it down in the middle of the floor. “…are in this circle.”  He picked up a stick and drew a circle around the stone and a second circle a short distance away.  “This circle represents the gates in range of Destiny next time it drops out of FTL.”  He set another stone into the second circle. 

 

Belle pointed to it and smiled ruefully.  “We need to get to that circle.”  She picked up a few more stones and dropped them in a line in the space between the two circles.  “Now hopefully, there are gates in range of each other between these circles.  Once we are in range of Destiny the address will show up on the remote.”

 

Greer leaned over and raised a skeptical brow.  “Ok, so how do we know we’re going the right way?”

 

Eli’s smile faded.  “We don’t, but if we do go the wrong way, we’ll either run out of addresses because we’ve reached the edge of the corridor, or we’ll run into planets we’ve been to before, or at least, addresses I’ll hopefully remember or recognize, but this is a fifty/fifty shot.”

 

Chloe rose to her feet and brushed off her pants.  “Well, the first thing we need to do is get out of here and we’re not going to do that sitting here making maps and bouncing theories around.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

“Belle, check this out,” Chloe said as they came to a fork in the tunnels.  Scott and Eli were arguing about which way they should go and she wished there were some way to tune them out.  “There’s been a few of these along the way.  I thought they were just decorative at first, but so far they’ve all been the same except for one thing.”  She pointed to a particular symbol on the carving.

 

Belle pulled herself out of the deep despair that seemed to encompass her entire being and touched the little symbol Chloe pointed out.

 

“This symbol seems to be in different places,” the girl said, a quizzical look on her face as she tried to understand what she was seeing.

 

“Chloe!  You are here,” Belle said, smiling for the first time since she’d had to say goodbye to Rush.  “There’ve been maps down here the whole time!”

 

Eli gaped at them.  “Seriously?”

 

“Yes,” Chloe chirped excitedly, pointing to the area on the carving with the symbol.  “Here’s the fork where we are.  If we continue to follow this path, it will lead us out.”

 

“And you just figured this out?” Greer snapped, tired of being underground.  He was beginning to feel as if the walls were closing in on him.  He could easily sympathize with Belle and understand what she was struggling with.

 

“Greer, lay off huh?” Scott said quietly, casting a pointed look at Belle.

Greer disappeared around a corner and Scott called after him.  “Where are you going, man? We need to stick together. Greer!”

 

Eli pressed the girls against the wall, shielding their heads with his arms as the tunnel began to shake, the structure damaged from the earlier C4 blast.  Scott shined his light up at the nearest crack in the ceiling, watching with concern as more dust poured from it.  “Greer!  Come back, Sergeant…that’s an order!”

 

The rumbling subsided and a moment later Greer reappeared in the tunnel.  He grinned wryly at Scott and pointed in the direction from which he’d come.  “She’s right.  There’s another map…”

 

The tunnel walls shook violently, the ground tremoring beneath their feet, their cries of alarm muffled in the din as the ceiling between the team and Greer collapsed, a ton of rock and rubble cascading to the stone floor.

 

“GREER!”

 

Belle struggled out of Eli’s protective embrace and made her way over to Scott.  “Are you alright?”  She dropped to her knees when he nodded, inching closer to the wall of debris.  “Ronald!  Ronald, can you hear me?”

 

“Greer! Greer!” Scott yelled.  He palmed his radio and pressed the com button.  “Greer, come in.  Answer me, man!  Can you hear me?”

Chloe wrung her hands.  “Maybe the signal can’t penetrate the rocks.”

 

Belle shook her head.  “No, we could hear Vanessa and Nicholas just fine.  He’s either unconscious or…”  She couldn’t finish her thought, refusing to believe the wily master sergeant was dead.

 

She hefted herself out of the way and wrapped an arm around Chloe as Scott and Eli began trying to shift some of the rock in an attempt to rescue their companion.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

The stargate opened with a whoosh as Rush rechecked his gear for the third time, anxious to be off.  Young entered the gate room, Vanessa and her team following behind him.  “Three hours?” Young inquired, glancing up at the countdown clock.  “Is that gonna be enough time?”

 

“Besides dialing, checking for safe environment, roughly eight to ten minutes per planet, factor in time to get back, we’ll be able to see roughly twenty planets,” he explained.  “At least we know which direction to go in.”

 

Without another word, the scientist hurried up the ramp and disappeared through the puddle, one thought on his mind…to find his Belle and bring her home safely.

 

Vanessa nodded to the colonel as her team began to follow Rush.  “We’ll find them, sir.”

 

“Good luck.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle’s knees gave out and she dropped to the soft grass at the tunnel entrance, breathing deep heaving lungfuls of air as the sunlight washed over her tear-streaked face.  She cast an accusatory glance at the lieutenant, her lip curled up into a sneer.  “We shouldn’t have left him!” she hissed.  “Isn’t that your motto?  Never leave a man behind?”

 

Scott gaped at her.  “He was my friend too, Belle!  I had to put the team first.  If we’d stayed, we would be buried right along beside him.”

 

“Alright, enough,” Eli said quietly, shifting from foot to foot.  “We need to get back to the gate.  If Greer’s alive, and can somehow dig himself out or find another way to the surface, we’ll wait for him there.

 

Scott nodded and set off, Eli following behind him.  Chloe didn’t move, remaining behind to wait for Belle as the woman looked back regretfully at the tunnel entrance.  Finally, she pulled herself to her feet and adjusted her pack, refusing to look at any of her friends as she too determinedly set off across the grassy terrain.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Greer slowly came to with a groan.  He shook off some of the dust and debris covering his right arm and winced at the pain in his head.  He swiped his hand over his brow, his fingertips coming away sticky with blood.  The light was dim in the destruction and looking to his left he could see the muted light of his torch lying next to his rifle.  He shifted out from under the debris and checked his weapon, thankful it hadn’t been broken in the cave in.

 

“Hello!” he called out, hoping the others on the other side of the rock wall could hear him.  “Hey!  Hey, guys, can anyone hear me? I’m here!”  He bent at the waist, the exertion too much for his parched throat as it sought to expel the dust from his airway.  When he’d recovered enough to swallow and take a deep breath, he pulled out his radio, cursing when he saw that it was broken.

 

Furious, he smashed the mangled device against the rock and tossed it across the small space, the sound of broken plastic bouncing through the space.  He set his shoulders with determination and began to shift the rock in hopes of freeing himself from his prison.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

“You’re thinking about Dr. Rush, aren’t you?” Chloe asked quietly as they waited patiently beside the gate.  Eli searched through the gate addresses on the Kino remote and they had no other choice but to wait and hope that he’d find something that would lead them back to Destiny.  She curled her arm about her friend’s shoulders and cast her a sympathetic smile.

 

“How can I not?” Belle asked with a weary sigh.  “He’s going to be furious with me when I finally get home.”

 

 _Home_ …is that really what Destiny had become for them all, Chloe wondered.  Would they never get back to Earth and have to come to terms with living out the rest of their lives on the Ancient ship?  “He’ll be too happy to see you to be angry with you.”

 

Eli chuckled happily as he found an address.  “I think I found something.”

 

Scott held up a hand to forestall him.  “Eli, hold up a second.  Maybe the thing to do is to stay put.  If it _is_ possible to connect the dots between here and Destiny, then Colonel Young is going to send a team back to look for us.  Maybe we’d be better off waiting for them to find us.”

 

“We don't know how long  _Destiny_ 's gonna stop,” the boy protested.  “If it's a short window, there might not be enough time for them to get here and then to gate back to  _Destiny_. We need to take the chance.”

 

Scott looked back in the direction from which they’d come, towards the ruins where his fallen friend had been left behind, hating himself that he hadn’t been able to save him.  Young and Greer were the closest thing he had to family and the loss was eating him up inside.  He couldn’t stay and wallow in his grief.  He was responsible for someone other than himself and he had to make the best effort he could to get them back to Destiny.  Finally, resigned, he turned back to Eli and nodded.  “Ok, dial it.”  
  
Eli dialed the address and sighed in relief when the stargate began to spin.  He sent the Kino through and tested the atmosphere to make certain it was safe for them to proceed before turning back to Scott with a thumbs up.  Belle and Chloe followed Eli up the ramp and disappeared through the puddle, leaving Scott to cast one more look behind him before trailing behind them.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle wrinkled her nose at the view as she stepped through the gate into a heavily wooded area shrouded in a dense fog.  “Wow,” she muttered drolly.  “Reminds me of the redwood forest in upstate California.  The university sent us to Klamath to meet with a potential backer for his research and Rush hated it the entire time we were there.”

 

“Why?”

 

“You know Nicholas.  If he’s not actively working, he’s not happy,” she chuckled.

 

The gate shut down behind Scott as he stepped through and Eli was quick to explain that it would take a minute for the gate list to refresh before he could dial again.

 

“If Destiny’s in FTL, it won’t show up, right?” Scott asked. 

 

“Right.”

 

“So shouldn’t we be spending a little more time on these planets, waiting to see if it does?”

 

“No,” Belle said, shaking her head emphatically.  “We need to keep moving.”

“Alright,” the lieutenant said sternly. “Ten minutes. We give each planet...”  His voice trailed off as an ominous growl sounded in the distance followed by loud thunderous footsteps.

 

“Dial the gate, Eli,” Belle barked in an ominous hiss, backing Chloe up the ramp.  “Now!”

 

The creature roared, the sound echoing menacingly through the mist.  “Dial faster, Eli!” Chloe whimpered, reaching out and clamping down on his arm, her nails digging sharply through his sleeve to pierce his skin.  “Hurry!”

 

“I’m dialing…I’m dialing!” he assured her.

The gate whooshed open with seconds to spare as a dinosaur-like creature, twenty feet tall, stepped out of the trees, its maw gaping widely as another roar thundered through the air.

 

Belle gaped back, startled disbelief washing over her face.  She’d never seen anything like it, though she’d seen similar beasts in her books.  She hoped never to see it again!  Chloe pulled her closer to the puddle, snapping her out of her fright.  There was no time to send the Kino through to check for atmosphere or temperature or the myriad other things it usually scanned for to protect the team.  She followed her friend blindly, Scott bringing up the rear with a burst of gunfire.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Rush came through the gate to find himself on a planet straight out of a fantasy novel.  Tall crystal formations grew out of the rocky terrain, glistening pink in the light of the full blood red moon, the sky full of storm clouds and the sound of thunder.  There were no trees, no hills, no grass of any kind, but he had to admit it was quite interesting.  It was something Belle would have wanted to take pictures of to use as a wallpaper on her iPhone, he thought ruefully.

 

James and her team followed through the gate behind him and she couldn’t help but remark on the scenery.  “It's beautiful. Not that I'd wanna be stuck here for a long time but it is an incredible sight to see.”  She collected the Kino and turned to Rush, who was studying the remote.  “Dr. Rush, this is our tenth planet.  We’ve less than an hour and a half left to search.”

 

Rush typed up a new address.  “This is a lot more complicated than I’d anticipated.  Who would have guessed that Destiny had skipped over so many planets with gates on them?”

 

“Well, we have extra Kinos and a remote. Maybe it's time we split up, cover more planets.”  
  
“Agreed.”  If it would better their chances of finding his Belle and the others, he’d do it.  Nothing mattered more to him than bringing her home.

 

The gate whooshed out as the address connected and Vanessa took half the team with her, leaving the remaining soldiers behind with Rush.  He dialed the gate again, hoping the next planet would make his hope a reality.

  
X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle stifled a tired laugh as she stepped through their fourth gate in time to see Scott lose his footing in the thick snow and ice and land inelegantly on his backside.  A wave of nostalgia gripped her.  This planet was reminiscent of winter in Storybrooke.  “Are you alright, Lieutenant?” she asked, carefully picking her way around patches of ice on the ramp.

 

The gate whooshed shut behind them and Eli shivered.  “Brr, it’s cold here.  So glad we won’t be staying.”  He quickly began tapping at the remote to pull up their next set of addresses.

 

Belle watched him carefully, her brow knitting in concern as the color drained from his face.  “What?  What is it?” she asked, laying a comforting hand on his arm.

 

“I recognize this one.”

 

Scott made his way back up the ramp to huddle around him.  “One we’ve been to before?”

 

“Not recently,” he murmured, looking up to meet Belle’s eyes.  “It’s the one with the downed alien ship – the planet you and Rush were stranded on.”

 

Belle fought down the bile that rose in her throat at the thought of that planet, the fear, the hopelessness of their situation before the Nakai had arrived to make it worse.  “We’ve been heading the wrong way. Damnit!”

 

“So what now? We retrace our steps?” Scott asked, pulling the collar of his jacket more securely about his neck to stave off the cold.

 

“Yeah, but…” Eli hedged.  “I think we should go to this planet.”

 

“What? No!” Chloe protested. 

 

“Look, even if we retrace our steps and try this all again with different choices, we’re travelling blind.  Rush said he was able to boot up the computer on that alien ship.”

 

“Yes, Eli, and it brought the Nakai right to us!” Belle interjected, staring him down as she wrapped her arms about herself.  To ward off the cold or her fear, she couldn’t be sure.

 

Eli shook his head in exasperation.  “Yes, but in the short amount of time that he and Belle were there, he was able to glean some information about the shape of this galaxy and where the stargates are.  If – if I can do the same, we won’t have to stumble around.  We’d have a map.”

  
“OK, but  _what_  about the aliens? Believe me, you do not want to end up a prisoner on one of those ships,” Belle insisted, trying to make him understand the risks.

 

Eli cast her a pleading look, hope gleaming in his warm chocolate eyes.  “I realize we might not have much time.  We’ll have to get in and out quickly.”

 

“If they’re not there now!” Chloe said unhappily, her mouth drawn in a frown.

 

Scott interceded before things turned ugly between them.  “If it’ll get us back to Destiny, we have to take that chance and hope for the best.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

The planet of the ruins was dark and silent, the sounds of crickets – at least he hoped it was crickets and nothing that sought to devour him in the night – and the small campfire he’d built, the only comfort.  Greer had chosen to camp several meters away from the stargate, in the hopes that Young would send someone to bring them home.  He knew it had to have been a tough decision for Scott to leave him there.  Scott would have had to think he was dead, crushed in the cave-in.  The lieutenant had to put the safety of the others ahead of his fallen brother.

 

It still didn’t make it any easier for him to accept.  He rested back against his pack, his rifle lying on his chest, and he let himself become lost in thoughts of Lisa.  He couldn’t help but wonder how she was coping with his failure to return to Destiny.  Things were nice between them, he had to admit as a small smile curled his lips.  They were getting closer, a bit more serious than the casual fling that had begun their relationship and he mused whether or not she missed him half as much as he did her.

 

Greer was ejected from his thoughts rather quickly as the gate whirred to life and began to dial.  He jumped to his feet and kicked dirt over the small fire before retreating to the cover of trees behind him, raising his rifle and aiming it at the puddle.

 

He lowered his weapon and steadily made his way out of the tree line, hands held non-threateningly at his side.  “Lieutenant, you’re definitely a sight for sore eyes.”

 

Vanessa shot him a grin as she lowered her rifle.  “Ready to go home?”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle took a deep shuddering breath as she stared up at the crashed alien craft.  This was such a bad idea on so many levels.  “Come on.” She gestured for them to follow her up the slope to the hatch on top of the ship.  “Rush and I were never able to get in that way, Scott,” she said, pointing to the lower hatch.

 

She crouched down at the puzzle keypad and gave them each a meaningful look as they joined her.  “Alright, here’s the thing.  Eli, you’re going to have to work quickly.  This hatch doesn’t just allow us access into the ship.  It will activate the computer, lights, everything.  And you can bet it will send out a homing signal to the Nakai.”  She couldn’t stress it enough that they were pressed for time.

 

After she’d gotten the hatch open, Scott nudged her aside and dropped through to land agilely to his feet.  Belle rolled her eyes and used the ladder.  What was it with men wanting to leap blindly into the unknown, she mused irritably.  She led Eli over to the console and ushered him into the seat.  “Do what you’ve got to do, Eli.”  She turned to Chloe and beckoned her to follow. 

 

“Where are we going?”

  
“There’s water and rations we can take with us.”  Belle dug through Scott’s pack and then Eli’s, retrieving their canteens to refill them.  “I don’t know how good they’ll taste, though.  Nicholas and I weren’t here long enough to test them.”

 

Chloe gaped at the huge tanks, realizing Belle and Rush would’ve had at least a chance if the Nakai hadn’t shown up.  Belle left her to fill the canteens and gather as many rations as she could stuff into her pack, remembering she had been forced to leave her things behind before.  Her mind instantly flashed back to her one night with Rush aboard the ship and she had to grip the wall to steady herself as tears pricked behind her lids.

 

Shakily she approached the bed and lifted the soft pillow in her hands, bringing it to her nose as she inhaled deeply.  It still held his scent.  “Oh, Nicholas.  I miss you so much,” she sobbed quietly, the pillow muffling the sound from carrying to the others.  This was the longest she’d been apart from him since Icarus and the thought of possibly never seeing him again tore at her heart.

 

“Belle?” Chloe called, looking for her friend.

 

“I’m here,” she said softly, quickly brushing her tears away and grabbing the two packs and her tactical vest that had been left behind.  Unfortunately, she couldn’t hide her tear streaked face from Chloe swiftly enough.

 

The girl dropped her packs and wrapped her arms around the shorter woman, rubbing her back soothingly.  “It’s ok, Belle.  We’re going to get back, you’ll see.”

 

“I know.”  She smiled weakly at her friend.  “Come on.  I have canteens in here that need to be filled.”  Chloe took the pack, leaving her own two bulging packs behind for Belle. 

 

Belle slipped out of her flak jacket and donned the vest, tying the arms of the jacket around her waist.  She pulled her 9mm Greer had given her from the vest, checking the clip and finding it full.  There were two more full clips in the pocket along with a handful of jolly ranchers.  That brought a smile to her lips as she unwrapped one of the watermelon candies and popped it into her mouth.  _Oh heaven!_   Lastly she tested her radio.

 

“Scott, you read?”

 

“Yeah, where are you? Eli’s having trouble with the computer and we’re running out of time,” he returned.

 

“Be right there.”  She clicked off and grabbed her packs, thankful that Chloe met her in the hallway to make their way back to the hatch.

 

Scott was fiddling with Rush’s glasses that they’d found on the console when Belle entered the cockpit.  He handed them to her with a sheepish grin.  “Thought you might want these.”

 

“Thanks,” she said, biting her lip to quell her tears as she slipped them into an empty pocket on her vest.  “How’s it going?”

 

Eli nervously looked down at the console, randomly pressing buttons in a language he’d never seen before.  “Not so well.  I can’t understand what I’m looking at!” he barked irritably.

 

“Fifteen minutes, Eli,” Scott snapped, his jaw tight as he clenched his teeth.

 

“I’m doing the best I can!”  He pushed another button.  “This is an alien spaceship!!  I don’t know why you expect miracles from me!”

 

“Well, you’re the boy genius that solved Rush’s algorithm,” he argued.  “Fifteen minutes and then we’re out of here – that’s it.  End of discussion.”

 

He finally pulled up the holo-screen, though he didn’t understand the data streaming across it.  “None of this makes any sense.  Belle?”

 

“No clue.  I could probably figure it out if we had more time, but…”

 

Chloe leaned over his shoulder, her attention focused on the screen as he flipped through several pages.  “Wait, go back!” she said, shaking his shoulder urgently.  “The screens, go back!”  He looked back at her curiously over his shoulder, but did as she asked.  “There. Select that.”

 

A star map appeared on the screen and Belle arched a bewildered brow at her friend.  “How did you know that, Chloe?”

 

“I-I don’t know,” she replied, her brow furrowed in a frown as she looked down at her feet.

 

“That’s it!” Eli exclaimed excitedly, pulling out his iPhone and snapping a picture of the map.  
  
Scott and Eli looked as if they wanted to question Chloe further, but Belle interceded.  “Ok, let’s get the hell out of here before our friends show up, shall we?”  She didn’t give them a chance to argue, taking Chloe’s hand and hurrying her towards the hatch where they’d deposited their packs.  “Come on!” she said, clapping her hands to get their attention.

 

Scott followed, but Eli seemed frozen in fear at the console.  “Guys!  If I’m reading this right, then Destiny is about to leave the galaxy.  If we don’t get back on board before it does, we’re gonna be stranded for good.  Game over.”

 

“All the more reason to go.  Now move your ass, genius boy!”  Belle snarled.  “I’m not losing Nicholas because we’ve been going the wrong way!”

 

Eli hoisted two of the packs over his shoulders and followed her up the ladder.  “You can be scary sometimes…you know that right?”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

The team raced through another stargate, what must have been the tenth in the last hour, and Belle shifted the weight of her pack, fighting to catch her breath as Eli dialed again.

 

“Seriously, there was no quicker way?” Scott gasped breathily, leaning over and bracing his hands on his knees.

 

“No,“  Eli snapped.  “If I’m right, this planet should be just…” His voice trailed away as the remote beeped and a new address connected with the gate.  “There it is!  Destiny!”

 

“Shut up and dial, Eli,” Chloe barked, her teeth clenched against the pain in her side.

 

“OK!”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

In Destiny’s gate room, Colonel Young paced back and forth at the bottom of the ramp as Vanessa monitored the countdown clock on the wall.  Every few moments she would update the colonel with the remaining time.

 

“Down to the wire, damnit!” he growled as he continued to pace like a caged animal.

 

“Incoming wormhole,” Riley called out as the chevrons lit up on the gate and it began to whir and spin.  Everyone turned, looking expectantly at the gate.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle laughed in delight as the gate whirred to life, each chevron that locked bringing them one step closer to Destiny.

 

Eli hugged her tightly with one arm, Chloe with the other.  “We’re going home!”

X*X*X*X*X

 

Rush dragged himself through the gate, weary and exhausted, the rest of his team at his heels.

 

“You cut it close,” Young said, casting him a sympathetic smile.

 

Rush ignored him as his gaze came to rest on Greer.  “Greer!”  He looked up at Everett, hope clearly evident in his soft brown eyes.  “Belle?  Where is she?”

 

Everett placed a restraining hand on his shoulder as he stepped off the ramp.  “Rush, the others weren’t with him.”  
  
“What?” Rush’s face fell as he glanced up at the countdown clock ticking off the last seconds.  “This was our last chance, Colonel.  This was…”  He turned back to the gate, staring at it hopelessly as the words ended in a strangled sob.

 

Young ordered everyone out of the gate room as Nicholas collapsed to his knees, the weight of despair so heavy upon his shoulders, his limbs refused to hold him any longer.  Hot salty tears washed over his face as he bent at the waist, the pain of her loss twisting his stomach in knots.  “No…Belle…”

 

“Rush.  Rush?” The colonel said softly, resting a comforting hand on the scientist’s shoulder.  He knelt at his side when he didn’t receive a response.  “Nick?”

 

The alarm blared loudly in the silent room and the FTL drives engaged.  Rush heard none of it as he buried his face in his hands and howled in agony.  Two words repeating in a litany as sharp as a blade… _gone….Belle…gone…Belle…gone…Belle….._  “No!”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle stared at Eli in stunned disbelief as the chevrons on the gate went dark.  “What happened, Eli?” she asked, her voice barely more than a whisper.

 

“I-I don’t know.  I…”  He looked down at the remote, wondering if the battery had failed them.  He didn’t want to contemplate the only other reason.  “It didn’t connect.”

 

“Why not?” Chloe asked, wringing her hands nervously, knowing this was their last chance to get home.

 

“I don't know!”  
  
“Dial it again,” Scott snapped, unwilling to give up.

 

Eli began the dialing sequence again and just as before, it failed to connect.  He glared at his remote, feeling the panic rising within his chest.  One of the gate addresses on the small screen flashed and then vanished into nothing.  “Oh, God!”

 

“What is it, Eli?” Belle asked with quiet calm, her instincts screaming at her not to ask.  Yet she knew she needed to hear him confirm her worst fears.

 

“The address just disappeared,” he said, numb with shock.

 

“How could it be there one second and then gone the next?” Chloe asked, panic making her own voice shrill.

 

“They jumped,” Belle mumbled as her knees gave out.  Frankly she didn’t know how they’d held her up as long as they had.  “We missed it and they’re gone.”  A sob broke her voice on the last word as tears streamed down her face.  “My Nicholas is gone.”

 

Eli fell to her side, his own eyes filling with tears.  “That’s it.  We’re done.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Don’t eat me! It’s how the episode ended. I didn’t mean to leave a cliffie, I promise! Seriously, though, I hope you all enjoyed it. Please drop me a line to let me know what you thought about it. Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing, following and favoriting, commenting and kudoing. You all are the best (o:


	16. Sabotage

 

Everett stared pensively out the porthole as the edge of the galaxy grew ever closer, nothing but the dense dark void that rested between this galaxy and the next.  He braced his hands on either side of the reinforced glass and hung his head, so weary it seemed the stress would break him apart.  He’d lost four members of his crew…his family…and there was nothing he had been able to do about it.  If it weren’t for Tamara and the gift of her hesitant ‘new beginning’, he didn’t know how he could possibly find the strength to continue on his path.  She gave him hope and faith for the future.

 

As if his thoughts had conjured her, the radio crackled with the sound of her sweet voice.  “Colonel Young?”

 

He walked across the room to retrieve the device from his desk.  “Yeah,” he answered, raking a hand through his dark unkempt hair.

 

“We’re all here, sir.”

 

“I’m on my way.”

 

He slowly made his way out of the room, turning left to take the corridor that would lead him to the gate room.  He pinched the bridge of his nose as image after image of his lost crewmates flitted before his mind’s eye.  Chloe, laughing with Belle as they led the crew through their aerobics routine.  Scott stiffly and awkwardly saluting him on his first day at Icarus.  Eli…Eli being a total mess when he was first thrown into the program against his will, but trying his best to fit in and learn what he needed in order to become a part of the crew.  And Belle…he didn’t even want to think of how they were going to cope without their little cruise director.  Her work with the science team was invaluable, but it was her other activities that kept everyone on board from slowly losing their minds.  He cringed at the thought of what Rush would be like without her.

 

He hesitated for a long moment, staring at the wall panel, unwilling to open the door and face what was inside.  With a mental shake, he pulled himself together and pushed the door release, the door whooshing open to reveal the entire crew awaiting his arrival.  TJ greeted him with a tentative smile and he had to admire the light blue button up shirt he’d found for her amongst the things he’d brought aboard with him and the way it showed her barely discernable baby bump.  Now that she’d told him the news, she didn’t see the point in trying to hide her condition any longer.

 

Young halted in the center of the room, the crew gathered around him as he took a deep breath and tried to find the words to deliver more bad news.  “Doctor Rush has just confirmed that our current FTL jump will take us between galaxies,” he began, clasping his hands behind his back and pasting his most serious frown on his face.  “Which means it could take some time before we are able to make another Gate connection to replenish our supplies. Strict food and water rationing will be reinstated as of now.”

 

The crew murmured unhappily amongst themselves, but mostly they were resigned.

 

“It also means that any hope of rescuing Chloe Armstrong, Dr. Belle French, Eli Wallace or Lt. Matthew Scott is…”  He couldn’t say the words that seemed to lodge painfully in his throat, instead leaving it to them to figure it out.

 

Rush’s voice crackled over the walkie and he found himself grateful for the interruption.  “Colonel Young, could you please join me in the control interface room?”  


“I’ll be right there,” he answered, turning back to the crew to dismiss them.  “That is all.”  


X*X*X*X*X

 

Rush braced his hands against the console and hung his head, his dark eyes closed as he tried to focus on the myriad problems that seemed to plague the Ancient ship instead of the phantom blade slowly hacking away at his insides.  He couldn’t think of her right now, he thought determinedly.  He had work to do.  He couldn’t just find a dark corner and wallow in his grief.  He took a deep shuddering breath and stared down at the data on his screen, letting the Ancient text soothe if not comfort him.  Only his Belle could offer him the comfort he so desperately thirsted for.

 

Young had barely stepped foot into the control room before Rush hurried to share the problem.  “I’ve figured out why the ship’s been trying to conserve power.  We’re going to fall short.”

 

“Short of what?” Everett asked, clearly puzzled.

 

“Our destination – the other galaxy.  No matter how I do the sums or to what degree I try and conserve power, Destiny won’t make it across the void.”  He sat back on his stool behind his console and rubbed at the pain in his neck.  “You need to call Camille.  This is going to be an issue we’ll _all_ need to discuss.”  Science, civilian and military…all branches of Destiny needed to come together on this one, though he hated to involve the small IOA representative in his affairs.

 

Brody and Volker cast him furtive glances as Young radioed Camille and asked her to join them in the control room.  It seemed as if they all were waiting for Rush to explode into a fit of temper without Belle there to act as his buffer.

 

It didn’t take long for Rush to bring her up to speed, not caring one way or the other if she understood the magnitude of their situation.  He hadn’t cared for much overall in the two days Belle and the others had been gone.

 

“But we just passed through a star.  We should be re-charged,” she protested.

 

“Yes we did,” he agreed, “but like everything else on this ship, Destiny’s FTL drive and power reserves are nowhere near a hundred percent.”

 

“The database says the ship barely made the last three or four intergalactic jumps,” Brody said, referring to the data on his console across the room.

 

“The recent battle damage couldn’t have helped either,” Rush murmured.

 

“But if the ship realizes that it can’t make it, why is it trying?”

 

“It’s programmed to follow a pre-determined path,” Rush explained.  “Since we haven’t managed to take control of the ship, our presence is secondary to that.  Destiny will eventually drift the rest of the way, but our bones will be dust by then.”

 

“Alright, Rush, what do we do?” Young asked, bowing out to give the science team whatever they needed to see them through their current crisis.

 

Rushed huffed a short humorless laugh.  “Well, I’m open to suggestions.  We’re going to fall short about fifty thousand light years, give or take.”

 

“That’s just a few percent of the total,” Brody interjected.  “So what if we can increase the FTL drive's efficiency; work better with the same amount of power?

 

For the first time since they’d started the conversation, Rush seemed to perk up a little, a tiny flare of hope sparking behind his sable eyes.  “Five percent ought to do it, actually.”

 

Volker, ever the pessimist, was quick to object.  “We don’t know how the engines work at all.  We could just make things worse.”

 

Rush could almost hear Belle’s scolding voice in the back of his mind as he opened his mouth with a biting remark, quelling it at the last moment.  “Mr. Brody’s right,” was all he said.

 

“What, so am I the only one here who thinks we shouldn’t be screwing around with Ancient drive technology unless we have a clue about what we’re doing?”

 

”Then we'll bring aboard someone who does. I can think of two or three people off the top of my head,” Rush hissed, gnashing his teeth.  He didn’t care what Belle thought, he’d never see eye to eye with the astrophysicist.

 

“Who's the best?” the colonel asked.  
  
“Amanda Perry.”

 

Young looked to Camille, hoping she’d have heard of the woman.  “Uh, she was part of the team helping to design the next generation of hyper-drives,” she quickly supplied.

 

“There’s really no one better qualified,” Rush said, not mentioning she was also a dear friend to both himself and Belle.  If Young suspected, he very well might forget his _effort_ to work with him and refuse to allow Amanda to come aboard out of spite.  His relationship with the colonel might have mended somewhat, but to Rush it was no more than a shoddy patch job at best.

 

“Well, let's make that happen. Let's make arrangements to get her on board.”

 

Camille nodded and left to see to the necessary procedures.

 

“Colonel…um…for all her abilities, there are certain disabilities of which you should be made aware.”  


X*X*X*X*X

 

Camille pressed her lips together in a thin line as she listened to the colonel’s request.  After a failed attempt by Vanessa James to switch with Dr. Perry, he’d come to her in the hopes that she’d volunteer.  “How long would I need to remain Earth-side?”

 

“Potentially, several weeks,” Rush answered.  “Of course, there’d be someone there to assist with the day to day things.  She requires a respirator in order to breathe.”  He heaved a resigned sigh as he noticed her reluctance.  “Obviously there’s going to be some kind of adjustment.”

 

“And I’d be able to see my family?” she asked, her gaze swinging to the colonel.

 

“Of course.”

 

“Fine, I’ll do it,” she said in a steely tone, squaring her shoulders as she reached for one of the stones in the case, ready to place it upon the plate.  “Just fix the ship.”  


Rush sat down in the chair next to Camille and watched as the transfer was made, smiling tenuously as Amanda’s familiar warm smile flickered over Camille’s face.  “Mandy.”

 

“Nick,” she said breathily, smiling in amazement as she looked down at her hand, lifting and turning it in wonder.  “God, I’m really here, aren’t i?”

 

“You sure are.  Takes a moment to get used to the transfer,” he explained.  
  
“You're telling me!” she gushed excitedly, still staring at her hand and wiggling her fingers.  Though it may be a simple act to some, being a paraplegic makes this akin to a miracle.

 

“Mandy, you remember Colonel Young?” Nicholas asked, gesturing over his shoulder at Young.

 

“I do.  How are you, Everett?” she asked, remembering her manners.

 

“Very well, thank you, Dr. Perry.  Welcome aboard.”

  
X*X*X*X*X

 

Vanessa hurried down the corridor on her way to the infirmary, hoping TJ would be free to talk.  She felt like she’d failed the colonel with her inability to switch with Dr. Perry and was terrified of looking like a failure in her superior’s eyes.  Young had been so good to her, taking her under his wing just as he’d done with Scott and Greer when they’d joined the team.  How was she ever to prove she was just as good a soldier as they were if she couldn’t complete a simple task?

 

It had been even more difficult for her.  No matter how much the military insisted they treated everyone the same despite gender, she still felt she had to prove herself.  She wanted the colonel to feel he could depend on her and she wasn’t going to win any points by failing in her missions.  Hopefully, this time he would understand.  She’d be damned if she failed him –

 

Blackness washed over her similar to what she’d experienced with the stones and she fought off a wave of dizziness as she stumbled into the wall.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Rush leaned against the console, his stubbled chin in his hand, as he watched Amanda’s eyes soak in the data on the screen.  Thankfully, she was just as proficient in Ancient as Belle was…is....  He pinched the bridge of his nose to stave off the stinging behind his eyes at the errant thought.  It mattered little that she was listed as lost, he refused to think of her as dead.  He could go on if he knew…wherever she was…that she was alive and well.  His Belle was a survivor.

 

Amanda had been shocked when she’d asked after Belle only to learn she’d been lost in the cave-in.  Belle had spent nearly as much time in Amanda’s company as Nicholas had and he knew how close they’d been before they’d had to depart for Icarus.  It had cast a dark pall on his reunion with the scientist he considered his friend.

 

Finally, she looked up from the console and cast a hopeful smile at Young, Brody and Volker who were eagerly awaiting her verdict.  “Five or six percent would do it.”

 

“The problem is how to do that without any access to the ship’s core systems, however,” Rush said, meeting her gaze, a challenge in his eyes.

 

“Or, for that matter, any knowledge of how they work in the first place,” Volker murmured, chiming in with more of his negativity.  Everyone looked at him in exasperation and he shrugged.  “I’m just sayin’.”

 

Young clapped his hands, gaining everyone’s attention.  “Alright, gentlemen, let’s show Dr. Perry everything we’ve got.”

 

Brody and Volker moved off to their consoles only to be pitched into the wall panel behind them as a violent explosion rocked the ship.  Young splayed over the console, gripping its sides in a vise-like grip to keep his feet beneath him.  Rush grabbed Amanda, groaning as she sprawled inelegantly across his chest when they were thrown to the floor.

 

She lifted her head, staring at him with confusion in her dark eyes.  “Nicholas!” Camille gasped.

 

Amanda was back a moment later, shaking off the transfer again as she returned to Camille’s body.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

“What the hell happened?” Everett asked as he righted himself.  “Are we under attack?”

 

Rush shut down the alarm on the console after he’d pulled himself to his feet.  “No, it was a malfunction,” he confirmed, flipping through several screens of data.

 

Volker shook off the dizziness in his throbbing head from where he’d hit it on the wall and checked his own console.  “He's right. There's no sign of any hostile ships in range - not that I can tell, anyway.”  
  
“I think there was an explosion in the FTL drive,” Rush said, giving the colonel a pointed look.  “We're adrift.”  
  
“Why?”  
  
“An overload?” Volker offered with a shrug, uncertain.  
  
“Could be anything.”  Rush tossed his notebook on the console, shaking his head in disgust.  
  
“Can we access engineering spaces?” Amanda asked, already working the problem as well as she could with her limited knowledge of Destiny’s quirks.  
  
“Not without a spacesuit. Most of the ship is unpressurised,” Brody answered.  
  
“Best to check the damage from outside the ship,” Rush said, nodding at Volker.  “Get a Kino.”

 

“Get to it,” the colonel agreed.  He turned to Rush and Amanda.  “You two monitor from here.  I’ll use the stones to report this.”  


Tweedle dumb and dumber, as Rush was fond of calling Brody and Volker, followed the colonel out of the room and Rush turned to Amanda.  “Mandy, are you sure you're all right?” he asked  
  
She smiled reassuringly, though she was still a bit confused.  “For a second there, I was back on Earth, in a strange house but back in my own body again.”  
  
“The link is temporarily severed when we go in and out of FTL,” he explained.  He gave himself a mental shake, annoyed with himself that he hadn’t warned her about it in advance.  “I’m sorry, but we weren’t expecting that to happen.”

 

“It’s ok…I’m fine.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

It didn’t take long for the Kino to send it’s footage through the computer and directly into Rush’s console.  He and Amanda watched closely as it revealed the damage to the FTL drive.  “This is Volker.  Are you getting pictures?”

 

“Yeah,” Nicholas answered, his brow furrowing darkly as he surveyed the fried section of the drive.  “We see it.”

 

Amanda looked up curiously as an alarm sounded in the control room.  “What’s happening now?”

 

“Incoming wormhole,” Rush hissed worriedly as he grabbed his radio.  “This is Rush,” he said into the walkie.  “We have an incoming wormhole.  Sergeant Greer, please meet me in the gate room with a defense team.”

 

In the infirmary, Greer nodded to several of his men, where they had been helping TJ and Lisa with those wounded during the explosion.  They quickly grabbed their gear and hurried to the gate room.  “I need everybody out of here!” he yelled as he came in, taking a defensive stance and aiming at the puddle.  “That goes for you too, Doc!”  


Nicholas didn’t seem to hear him, however, as he stood several feet from the base of the ramp.  His narrowed eyes were trained on the event horizon, his heart hammering violently against his ribs.  He could barely breathe as he waited for their guests to step through the puddle.  Did he dare hope only to have it squashed?  A shiver raced up his spine as Lt. Scott stepped through with Chloe, dusty and travel worn, but otherwise unharmed.  He barely registered their greeting as Belle stumbled through the gate, Eli at her side.

 

A choked sob tore from his throat as her face lit up in a smile.  She ran down the ramp and threw herself into his arms, her face burrowing into his neck.  “Belle…” he whispered, clasping her to him to the point where he realized he must be hurting her.

 

“Nicholas…” she murmured breathily, breathing him in, her arms curling about his neck as she stroked a hand over his hair.  “I’m really here.  I’m home,” she cried.  “I never thought I’d see you again.”

 

He drew back enough so he could see her, cradling her face in his callused palms.  “I thought I’d lost you this time.  H-How are you even here, _mo stór_?” he muttered, unable to take his eyes from her precious dirt-streaked face.  She was filthy, rumpled, hair stuffed up under her military issue cap…and she’d never been more beautiful to him.  Her tears left even more streaks through the grime as they flowed unchecked from her cerulean eyes.

 

Belle pressed her brow to his as his own eyes stung with unshed tears, her hands stroking over and over his hair as she tried to reassure herself that this was real and not a figment of her imagination.  “The remote just lit up and Eli took a chance and dialed.  We assumed _you_ had done something.”  She pulled him closer, her lips finding his in a hungry kiss.

 

Rush melted into her, his arm coiling possessively about her waist as he fitted his body to hers, his other hand knocking the cap from her head to delve into her hair.  They ignored the greetings and laughter surrounding them as more and more of the crew celebrated the return of their lost compatriots.  They had eyes only for one another. 

 

He growled low in his throat as Young approached them, effectively putting an end to their reunion.  “Good to have you back, Dr. French, but we need to get the four of you to the infirmary and let TJ check you out.”

 

“I’m fine,” Belle murmured between kisses.

 

“She’s fine.  You heard her,” Rush hissed, burying his face against the smooth flesh of Belle’s throat.  “Now piss off, Colonel.”

 

Belle giggled and held him tightly. 

 

“Come on, you two!  You’re making a scene,” Greer teased, stepping up beside Young.  “We still need to check your weapon and stow your gear.  There will be plenty of time—“

 

Rush unbuckled her vest and pushed it off over her shoulders, weapons, canteen, radio and all landing with a thud against the cool metal floor.  His lips trailed lightly over her throat, his warm breath ghosting over her ear.  “I missed you so much, my Belle,” he whimpered softly, his hands fisting in her shirt over the waistband of her fatigues.

 

She nuzzled her lips against his own ear.  “I missed you too.”  She emitted a small squeak as he lifted her in his arms, her legs wrapping about his waist as he turned to leave the gate room.  She clung to him, her fingers buried in his hair as her lips met his with renewed fervor.

 

“Hey!” the colonel called after them.  “You still need to see TJ!  And you need to be debriefed—“

 

“Give it up, sir,” Scott said, coming to stand next to him.  “You know Dr. French will see to everything in due time.”

 

Chloe chuckled lightly as Scott’s arm curled about her waist, pulling her into his side.  “Yeah, but first she needs to see to Rush.”

 

Young just shook his head, trying to hide the small smirk that formed on his lips, and led them over to the console where Amanda was staring at the doorway where Rush had disappeared with his arms full of Belle.  She was pale, her features pinched in something akin to hurt mixed with disbelief and he wondered if there was more to Rush’s relationship with the scientist than he’d been led to believe.  Better yet, was it going to cause problems?

 

“Lt. Scott, Chloe, Eli…I’d like you to meet Dr. Amanda Perry.  She’s been asked on board to help us fix the problems we’re having with our FTL drive.  She was a colleague of Dr. Rush’s before he joined the Icarus project,” he explained.

 

“It’s nice to meet you,” Eli said, extending his hand in greeting.  “Um…what’s wrong with the FTL drive?  What did I miss?”

 

“She can brief you after you visit the infirmary.  Brody,” he called out to the engineer manning the primary console.  “Why don’t you introduce Dr. Perry to the mess and grab some lunch?”  


X*X*X*X*X

 

“Deep breath, Eli,” TJ said as she held the pad of her stethoscope to the boy’s back.  Lisa was busy taking Scott’s blood pressure and Chloe sat beside him, her legs swinging jauntily back and forth.  She wrapped the stethoscope around her neck and glanced up at Everett questioningly.  “Where’s Belle?”

 

Young snorted, giving her a meaningful look.  “I’ll give you three guesses, but you’re only gonna need one.”

 

TJ blushed.  “Oh…OK!”  She turned back to Eli.  “So finish your story.”

 

Eli snickered behind his hand, trying to cover with some creative throat-clearing.  “Yeah…well, we were pretty much resigned to the fact that we were stuck out there.  Then on the second night the Kino remote just lit up.  I guess I just thought you guys must’ve figured something out.  We dialed back and here we are.”

 

Scott grinned at the medic.  “I didn’t think it was possible to miss this bucket.”

 

“Do you people realize you just scared the crap out of us?!” Young barked, his voice gruff with emotion he wasn’t used to showing easily.

 

Scott ducked his head sheepishly.  “Sorry, sir.”

 

“You’re forgiven,” Everett nodded.  He met TJ’s amused gaze.  “So, are they gonna live?”

 

“Looks like it.  That planet couldn’t have been all that bad,” she said, packing up her kit.

 

“That’s good, because if we don’t get the FTL drive fixed, that’s where we’ll _all_ be going.”

 

“Really,” Eli groaned.

 

“Really, Eli,” the colonel apologized.  “I'm sorry, but I'm gonna have to put you straight back to work.  Especially since…er…Rush and French are going to be otherwise…occupied for a while.”

 

Eli’s eyes widened as he looked down at his feet.  “Brilliant!”  


X*X*X*X*X

 

It wasn’t a cause for alarm among the crew to see Dr. Rush stalking down the corridors, it was something altogether different to see him with an armful of the missing Dr. French.  He ignored their shouted greetings for the most part.  It was those who insisted on trying to stop him long enough to speak to her that tried his patience.  Said patience reached its end when Dr. Boone innocently said, “Welcome back” and stepped right into Nicholas’s path.

 

Once again, Belle pulled her soft pink lips away from Rush to say hello and he simply snapped.  “Don’t you have some work to do, Boone?  Because if you don’t get out of my way, you’ll be scrubbing latrines for a week!!  I’ll see to it personally that the colonel assigns the worst ones at that!!”

 

The man hurriedly disappeared into the room from which he’d previously emerged and Belle arched a brow, gently tracing a finger over the frown lines on his brow.  “Nicholas, be nice, darling.  Apparently, they missed me.”

 

Rush cast her a baleful glare as he continued past the dome and took a left in the direction of their quarters and the lavatory.  “ _They_ missed you?!?!” He pressed her up against the wall outside of the lavatory, his hands delving into her hair as his hips molded themselves to hers, firmly holding her in place.  He held her gaze, his dark sable eyes tortured as he claimed her mouth.  “ _They_ weren’t the ones who spent every waking moment agonizing over what had become of you, _mo chroí_ ,” he whispered fiercely.  “Sleep,” he scoffed.  “Sleep was impossible, food tasted like ash in my mouth and all I could do was despair that you were lost to me forever. So you can see as how I just don’t give a damn about your friends.”

 

Belle pulled his head down to hers, capturing his mouth with hers, sliding her tongue into the hot recesses and swallowing down his pain.  His pain, her pain…it all blurred into one.  _They_ were one.  He howled as her teeth scored his lower lip, bucking his hips harder against her.  Reaching between them, he grabbed the hem of her light blue tunic and whipped it off over her head, tossing it carelessly behind him, his shirts and waistcoat soon following.  He needed to feel her bare skin, needed to have her naked to assure himself she was uninjured.

 

Wrapping his arms more securely about her, he carted her into the lavatory and set her on the vanity before moving off to start the shower.  Belle watched him, wary of the manic gleam in his eyes.  She’d seen it before when he’d been worried over solving the proof that would unlock the ninth chevron.  He was bottling it all up inside instead of talking to her and when it was finally loosed…

 

She swiftly untied the laces of her boots and toed them off, wrinkling her nose as she peeled her socks off and dropped them to the floor.  They made quick work of the rest of their clothes and she sighed happily to be back in his arms, the warm mist of the shower enveloping them in its welcoming embrace.  Yet he held her stiffly as she nuzzled into his chest.

 

“Nicholas…”

 

He turned her to face the spray and reached for the cloth to clean away the grime that clung to her skin.  She could practically feel his anger radiating from his every pore.

 

“Nicholas…talk to me, darling,” she whispered, grasping his wrist as he reached around to press the cloth to her belly.

 

“It should have been my choice to stay on the planet with you,” he hissed caustically against her ear.  “You took it out of my hands, Belle.”

 

She closed her eyes, her brows furrowing as she frowned.  “Colonel Young had already ordered you back to the ship.  They needed—“

 

Rush turned her back to face him, his fingers digging into her upper arms as he gave her a little shake.  “ _You_ needed me!  You were in the dark, trapped, frightened and without hope of returning to the ship!  _You_ needed me and manipulated Lt. James into acceding to your wishes.  It’s always _your_ wishes, Belle!”

 

Belle stared at him in horror.  “I-I didn’t mean to make you feel that way.  I was thinking of _you_ , Nicholas.  I just wanted to protect you.  I’m sorry,” she said, her lower lip trembling as she realized he was right.  In her efforts to protect him, she’d taken away his choice. 

 

He traced the line of her jaw with his wet fingertips, lifting her chin to meet his gaze.  “Belle, you are _mine_ to protect.  If I had remained there with you, we would have returned to Destiny all the sooner…and we would have been together.  I can’t lose you,” he murmured, enfolding her tightly in his embrace, “…not again.” 

 

She burrowed into his neck, her nails scraping gently, soothingly over the small of his back.  “I’m sorry.  I promise I won’t disregard your feelings in future,” she vowed as she felt some of the tension drain from his body.  Yet his fierce grip on her never loosened. 

 

He pressed light kisses to her temple and brow as he worked his fingers through her long locks until it was shiny and gleaming in the muted light once more.  A shiver of pure pleasure rippled up her spine at his gentle ministrations, but more so from the intensity of his gaze.  It was almost as if he thought she’d disappear if he closed his eyes even for a moment.  Those rich sable orbs darkened, his pupils expanding significantly as she reached between them and took him in her small hand, exerting enough pressure to cause the breath to catch in his chest and his lips to part on a gasp.

 

His mouth crashed down on hers as he pressed her back into the wall of the stall, his hands skimming over her shoulders and down her sides before traveling upwards once more, his thumbs teasing the sensitive undersides of her breasts as he knew she preferred.  He relished the little moans that escaped her throat as his tongue dueled with hers, the sound a testament to her pleasure.  His hand sought blindly for the lever to turn off the spray, not wanting to take the time away from his girl to do it properly.  Finally the spray ceased and he lifted her in his arms, not bothering to reach for the towels hanging over the stall door. 

 

Belle tightened her grip about his shoulders and cried out in alarm as he reached the door leading out into the hallway and threw it open.  “Nicholas!  We’re not alone in this wing of the ship any longer.  What if Chloe sees?  We’re going to scar the poor girl!”

 

Rush nipped playfully at her ear.  “Nonsense.  She’s carrying on with her soldier boy; it’s nothing she hasn’t seen.  And if she hasn’t, clearly he isn’t doing it right.”  He threw his shoulder into the door release and swept into their quarters.

 

Her giggle was abruptly cut off as his lips trailed along her throat, biting gently as they found the crook of her neck.  Her fingers fumbled blindly along the wall, finally finding the switch that would close and lock the door.  He laid her out across the bed crosswise and stood back, his dark eyes raking her from head to toe as he searched for any signs of injury.  He tugged on her hand, urging her to roll over onto her stomach and did the same to her back, relieved when her pale skin remained unmarred, not a blemish in sight.  Satisfied, he flipped her once again onto her back.

 

Belle raised her arms to him, beckoning him to come to her and he didn’t hesitate.  His body blanketed her as his mouth found hers, his lips urgent as they moved with hers, his tongue sliding sinuously against her own.  It had been two days of hell without his Belle and every brush of her skin, every touch of her hand seemed to be welcoming him home.  She keened as his lips trailed along the smooth curve of her jaw, his beard rasping softly against her skin.  He left a series of little bites beneath her ear before moving into the crook of her neck to score the tendon where her neck met her shoulder, gently suckling her flesh until it purpled and bloomed with his mark.

 

Rush growled low in his chest as he moved on to her collarbone, dipping his tongue into the hollow of her throat.  She arched beneath him as his hands rose to cup her breasts, his thumbs ghosting lightly over her nipples.  She cried out, some incoherent version of his name and the sound went directly to his cock.  He lengthened, hardened against her thigh and it was his turn to groan, the deep vibration of it reverberating against the taut bud in his mouth. 

 

Belle’s hands fisted painfully in his hair as she pressed him closer and he smiled against her skin as his lips trailed to the valley between her breasts, dropping a tender kiss there before moving to the other.  He rolled the bud he’d just abandoned between his thumb and forefinger as his tongue rasped over her other.  “Nicholas…please…” she gasped, her hips bucking up against him.

 

“Shh, _mo ghrá lómhara,”_ he whispered as he traced over her ribs and along the flat plane of her belly, leaving hot open mouthed kisses in his wake.  “I have you, Belle.”

 

A choked sob broke in her throat.  “Nicholas…I love you…please…”

 

His head jerked up to see the tears in her eyes and he realized he’d have to play later.  This was about more than how much pleasure he could bring her, more than just physical love or his desire to worship every inch of her.  She needed more and he’d be damned if he’d deny her.  He rubbed soothingly along her outer thigh, hooking his fingers behind her knee as he brought it about his hip as he moved to kiss her gently, locking his gaze with hers.

 

Belle mewled softly as his turgid length met her heated center, the blunt head brushing against her clit.  Her nails scored his shoulders as he slid inside and she burrowed her face against his neck, overwhelmed to feel him buried in her once more.  His lips pressed lightly to her ear, his breath coming in sharp pants as he tried to fight against the pleasure of her folds clasping and clenching around him as she adjusted to the invasion.  He needed this connection with her, this reunion after too long apart.  Two days had seemed like two years and he never wanted to go through that again.

 

Rush cradled her face in his warm palms, his eyes never leaving her face as he rocked gently into her.  “ _Feicfidh mé grá duit go deo, mo Belle. Go dtí go gcuirfear an réalta seo caite dorcha, tá mé leatsa_ ,” he whispered against her lips, his brogue thick as he slipped into the language of his childhood.  A tear escaped the corner of her eye as she reached up to take his bottom lip between her own, sucking gently.

 

Her hands trailed over his back, her nails scraping lightly as he set a steady pace, in no hurry to reach completion.  She brushed the hair away from his eyes as her hips rose to meet his and he turned his head, his lips pressing a kiss to her palm. 

 

“W-What does…that…mean, Nicholas?” she breathed, her heart in her gaze.  A low moan ripped from her throat as he changed the angle, his arm wrapping about her hips to lift her into each thrust.

 

She gasped as he ground his hips into hers, brushing her clit with each stroke.  His thrusts sped up as her pleasure increased, her walls fluttering about his cock as he drove into her.  He nipped at her ear as she gripped him more tightly, her heels digging into the back of his thighs to urge him onward.  “I'll love you forever, my Belle.  Until the last star goes dark, I am yours.”

 

“Nicholas!” she cried, her thighs quivering as she tensed in his arms, wave after wave of pleasure washing over her and sending her plummeting into bliss.  He followed soon after with a deep growl, his lean lines melting into her soft curves as he spilled himself within her, white light bursting behind his eyes as he came hard, his hips continuing to jerk as he rode out his pleasure.

 

Belle refused to release him when he moved to lie at her side, holding him in place in her secure embrace.  “Not yet,” she whispered, stroking her fingers through his damp hair.  “Need you.”

 

He acquiesced to her wishes, simply holding her as his head came to rest against her shoulder, dropping soft kisses to her alabaster skin as his breathing slowly returned to something resembling normal.  A hot tear splashed against his face and he lifted his head to find her eyes streaming behind her closed lids.

 

“Belle, _mo chroí_ , what’s wrong?  Did I hurt you?” he asked worriedly, rolling onto his side and tucking her against his chest, his hands rubbing soothingly along her back.

 

She shook her head.  “I-I almost lost you, N-Nicholas,” she wept, wrapping her arm about his back as she pressed closer, feeling as if she would never get close enough.  “I should have waited.  I shouldn’t have gone down to the planet without you.”

 

“Not your fault,” he assured her, pressing a kiss to her crown.  “It looked safe enough.  You were only there to inspect the ruins.  I promise I wouldn’t have let you go off with your friends if I’d have known about the catacombs.”

 

“Why does this keep happening to us?” Her sobs faded into small hiccups as she raised her watery gaze to his.  “I won’t make that mistake again.  I’ll only go off world if you’re with me.  I know I promised before, but this time I mean it. I don’t care what Everett says to the contrary.”

 

“I don’t think you’ll have to worry about the colonel for a while,” he chuckled.

 

“Why?” she asked, regarding him suspiciously.  “Did something happen while I was gone?”

 

His familiar smirk curled up one corner of his mouth as he met her gaze.  “It seems he and Lt. Johansen have patched up their rift—“

 

“Really?” She brightened considerably hearing that her friend was taking another chance on the man she loved.  “That’s wonderful!”

 

Rush leaned down and kissed her.  “And she’s been keeping a rather large secret as well.”  At her pointed stare, the one indicating she was in no mood for his hedging, he added, “She’s pregnant.”

 

“A baby!? How the hell did she hide this from me?  I’m supposed to be her best friend,” she said sulkily, her lips pursing into a pout.

 

“I’m sure she wanted the colonel to know first, Belle.  Surely it’s nothing personal.”

 

“Still!”  She nestled back into his chest and sighed contentedly, refusing to let her friend’s slight ruin her happy mood.  Then she remembered and groaned into Rush’s chest.  “I still have to report to the infirmary for a checkup.”

 

“Oh damn!” he hissed, “I can’t believe I forgot about Mandy!”

 

Belle sat up next to him as he threw his legs over the side of the bed and went to the dresser to retrieve clean clothes for them both.  “Wait!  What?”

 

He pulled on a pair of jeans and cursed, realizing he’d have to get his belt from the lavatory before he could take Belle to the infirmary.  “The FTL drive had a malfunction and we’re adrift.  If we don’t fix it…well, let’s not think about the consequences, shall we?  We brought Mandy aboard to help us with the problem.”

 

Belle rose from the bed, swaying unsteadily as she reached for her yoga pants.  “Gods, Nicholas!  And you just left her alone with the science team?”

 

“You distracted me,” he said with a shrug.

 

She giggled as she reached for her cream colored sweater and pulled it over her head.  “Yes, I suppose we were both rather distracted.”  She bit her lip thoughtfully as she slid her feet into her sandals.  “Nicholas, um…is she ok…being here and all?  It’s got to be strange for her considering her condition.”

 

He looked up at her as he pulled on his boots.  “I think it’s rather freeing for her really.  She seems to be adjusting well.”  He rose to his feet and preceded her to the door.

 

Belle bit her lip as she thought about the information she had that seemed to completely escape Rush’s attention.  Should she keep her friend’s confidence and remain silent or should she tell him?  In the end, she decided to remain silent.  She couldn’t see as how Mandy would appreciate Rush learning she had feelings for him.  She couldn’t help but wonder if things were going to be awkward.  Last time they’d spoken, Belle had still been in denial for her own feelings towards Rush and he hadn’t shown the slightest bit of interest in her unless it regarded their work.  She shook her head.  _Oh yeah, things are definitely going to be awkward_ , she mused with an inward groan.

 

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously at the floor and she grabbed the sleeve of the long sleeved black crew shirt he wore before he could enter the lavatory to retrieve his belt.  “Nicholas, wait!”

 

“What?” he asked, turning to eye her curiously.

 

“Our clothes are missing,” she said, lowering her voice and pointing to the floor.  “Which can only mean someone gathered them up to toss them into the hamper, correct?”

 

“Who—“  A feminine giggle seeped out from beneath the door, followed by a familiar masculine chuckle.  “Ugh!  You don’t think—“

 

Belle arched a brow at him, pulling him away from the door as she fought to keep her face blank.  “Oh, don’t be such a hypocrite, darling,” she said, steering him away from the lavatory and down the corridor towards the infirmary.  “She’s probably heard us more than once carrying on in the showers.”

 

“But…couldn’t they have used the showers on _his_ side of the ship?  Now how am I supposed to get my belt?” he grimaced.

 

“It’s not like they could have any privacy over there,” she chuckled.

 

He shrugged, smiling down at her as she linked her arm with his and rested her head against his shoulder for their short trek to the infirmary.  “Point taken.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

“I told you I was fine, Tamara,” Belle grinned, rolling her left sleeve back down as TJ packed away her kit and declared her fit and healthy.  She hopped off the gurney and followed her friend over to her desk in the corner of the room, leaving Rush by the entrance where he was coordinating on his radio with Brody and Volker.  “So, how did Everett take the news?”

 

A rosy blush stole into TJ’s cheeks as she smiled shyly.  “He was surprised, to say the least, but…”

 

Belle looked at her expectantly, unable to keep the happiness she felt for her friend at bay.

 

“…he asked me to move in with him.  He wants us to be a family.  Or as much as we can be a family aboard Destiny,” she said, keeping her voice low so as not to be overheard by her patients scattered about the room.

 

Belle’s face fell.  “Yet, I’m sensing you haven’t committed to his wishes.”

 

TJ perched a hip on her desk and crossed her arms over her chest, a pained expression on her lovely features.  “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea, Belle.  We’ve been through so much to get to this point, and then there’s the no fraternization rule amongst military personnel.  He just got divorced and I can’t help but wonder…”  Her voice trailed away as she looked down at her feet.  “…if he only wants to be with me because of the baby.”

 

Belle reached out and drew the blonde into a comforting embrace.  “He hasn’t told you he loves you, has he?  TJ, Everett isn’t that great at hiding his feelings…especially around you.”  She pulled back and cursed inwardly at her friend’s crestfallen expression.  “He’s such a lummox!  Do you want me to ask Nicholas to speak with him?”

 

“God, no!” TJ exclaimed, a horrified laugh bursting past her lips.  “You and I have a tough enough time keeping things civil between them.”

 

“Alright, just let me know if you change your mind.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

“Who made these schedules?  They’re bloody well a mess!” Belle vented, huffing out a breath, the air stirring the hair over her brow.  “I was only gone for two days and I’ve been completely phased out.”

 

Nicholas raised his gaze from the console, where he stood next to Amanda, a dark frown marring his brow.  “It was to be expected, considering…”

 

“I’m sorry, Nicholas.”  She yawned and dropped her gaze back to the clipboard in her lap.  She was curled up on one of the benches in the control room as he’d insisted she work in there today.  Whether she was comfortable or not, she could understand his insecurities and his desire to keep her close to hand.  Their separation hadn’t been any easier on him than it had been on her.  She made certain she scheduled her shifts in the control room to coincide with his for the next month.  Hopefully, with time he would once again relax and not mind quite so much when she worked in other areas of the ship.

 

“Some things never change, I see,” Mandy grinned at Belle, who returned the gesture easily.  “Still trying to manage everyone.”

 

Nicholas snorted.  “She’s been managing my professional life for so long, I doubt I could function without her.”

 

Belle nodded.  “At least you’re willing to admit it,” she snarked playfully. 

 

Mandy smiled, enjoying their banter.  She’d once again slipped into the easy camaraderie they’d shared at Berkeley before Rush and Belle had joined Icarus.  At first, she’d worried that she would feel bitter towards Belle because she’d been able to win Rush’s heart, but Mandy realized she just wanted his happiness.  He’d suffered so much after Gloria’s death, it lightened her heart to see him at peace.  And she couldn’t begrudge Belle a relationship with him.  The sparks of unresolved sexual tension that had always flared between the scientist and his assistant were bound to consume them eventually.  She sighed.  It wasn’t as if she would have ever been able to have a normal relationship with him herself, she thought bitterly.  Intellectually, they were well matched, but physically…  She’d hoped, with the opportunity Destiny presented, she’d be able to pursue that aspect of their friendship, but he was with Belle now.  If she knew anything of Rush’s character, Mandy knew he’d never betray Belle.  It wasn’t in his character to be anything but faithful to the woman he loved.  And she was certain he loved the petite scientist every bit as much as she loved him.

 

Vanessa smiled neutrally at Rush and the visiting Dr. Perry as she entered the control room and made her way over to Belle.  “Hey,” she greeted, taking a seat next to her when she waved a hand at the bench next to her.

 

“Hi, Vanessa.  What can I do for you today?” she asked, trying her best to stifle a yawn.  The mad dash they’d made through the stargates still seemed to be wearing on her, it seemed.

 

“Some of us were wondering if you and Chloe were going to resume your workout sessions now that you’re back,” she said, a hopeful gleam in her dark eyes.  “They sure beat the hell out of Dunning’s calisthenics program.”

 

Belle wrinkled her nose.  “That’s who the colonel put in charge? Ugh!  Don’t get me wrong, Dunning is a sweetheart, but he has the personality of a box of rocks.  I can’t see him getting you all motivated.”

 

“Exactly,” the lieutenant said with a short huff of laughter.

 

Belle flipped up several pages on her clipboard and perused the scheduling she’d been working on.  “Um…I may be able to resume those on Monday at the earliest.  I’m be playing catch-up for the rest of the week.”

 

Vanessa nodded, moving to get up, but Belle’s hand on hers forestalled her departure.  “Are you alright?  You look a bit tired.  Are you resting?” Belle asked worriedly.

 

“No, not really.  I’ve been caring for Dr. Franklin,” she said, speaking in low tones so as not to disturb the scientists working diligently across the room.  “He seems…I don’t know.  Something’s changed since we got stuck.”

 

 Belle’s brows shot up in surprise.  “Has he become responsive?”

 

“Not exactly,” she hedged, trying to find the words to explain.  “It’s like he’s in there and he knows exactly what’s going on, but his brain and his body just aren’t connected anymore.”  She shook her head.  “I don’t know.  I talked to Dr. Rush and he says I’m probably just imagining it.  Maybe I am.  I mean, I haven’t slept in…I don’t even know.”  She leaned forward and dropped her head in her hands.

 

“Why not?” Belle asked, concerned for the woman she was slowly befriending.

 

Vanessa hesitated, eyeing Belle steadily.  “I keep having the same bad dream.  I’m stuck in a dark room, but I’m not me and I can’t get out.”

 

Belle frowned, feeling a chill inch up her spine.  “Are you claustrophobic?”

 

“A little bit,” the lieutenant replied.

 

“Maybe it’s some weird phantom memory from your switch with Dr. Perry,” Belle offered, thinking it strange, but not completely impossible.  Scott had had a similar experience when he’d switched with Telford several weeks ago.  “But you need to rest, Vanessa.  Talk with TJ and let her help, alright?”

 

Vanessa rose to her feet and cast her a little smile.  “Thanks, Belle.  I’ll think about it.”

  
X*X*X*X*X

 

Eli set the e-reader, he’d borrowed from Belle, aside as a soft tapping sounded on the bulkhead next to his open door.  He glanced up with a tired smile to see Dr. Perry standing there, grinning at him.  It took him a moment, thinking he’d never be likely to see Camille smile in such a way.

 

“Hey, math boy,” she greeted, stepping into the room. “Got those calculations I was asking about?”

 

Eli blinked as he sighed unhappily, lifting a folded piece of paper by his side and holding it out to her.  “Done. And please don't call me that.”

 

She nodded with understanding, taking the paper from him.  “I know what that’s like.  Nick called me Little Miss Brilliant a couple of times and it stuck.”

 

“Nick?  Um…Rush?” he asked in surprise.

 

“We were colleagues back at Berkeley and then SGC about a year or so before Icarus.  It’s how I met him and Belle.  He used to like to bounce ideas off me when he was working on that Ancient proof that, um, _you_ ended up solving.  Congratulations, by the way.”

 

Eli snorted and waved his hand in mock triumph.  “Whoo!!!”  When she looked at him questioningly, he added, “Look where it got me.”

 

“I would do  _anything_  to be here.”

 

He looked up at her in surprise.

 

She waved a dismissive hand, her color heightening.  “Anyway, after Nick’s wife passed away, we used to have these long talks…about his work and _my_ work, the Ancients, ascension.  It was like he didn’t even see the chair.  Belle too.  She never made me feel anything less than an equal.”  
  
Eli blinked in surprise, his mouth gaping.  “You had a thing…for him?”  
  
“What's wrong with that?” Mandy asked defensively.

 

He barked a short huff of laughter.  “I just find it kind of surprising.”

 

“Why? Because a disabled person can't have feelings for someone?”  
  
“No!  I meant because you were ... you were talking about  _him_.  Did Belle ever know?” he asked, thinking about Rush’s relationship with the little astrophysicist.

 

Mandy nodded.  “She knew how I felt about Nick.  I suspected she had feelings for him at the time, I just didn’t know exactly how deep they were.  I’m … um … glad they’re happy.  They deserve it.”  She waved the piece of paper between them as she backed slowly out of the room.  “Anyway, thanks for this.”

 

Eli watched her go, a small furrow appearing between his brows.  “What the hell is it with women falling at his feet?  First Belle and now Dr. Perry?” He shook his head.  “I don’t know if this is a bad episode from the _Twilight Zone_ or _Tales from the Darkside.”_  
  


X*X*X*X*X

 

_Several days later…_

Eli yawned and leaned heavily against his console before propping his chin in his hand.  “How come Belle gets to sleep in and I had to get up at the butt crack of dawn?”

 

“Because she worked two shifts yesterday and nearly collapsed from exhaustion,” Rush hissed, sending one of his patented death glares the boy’s way.

 

“Oh.”

 

Young interrupted what was sure to be an argument as he came into the control room, answering Rush’s summons.  “You’ve got something?”

 

Rush nodded.  “Well, Dr. Perry has concluded that the explosion may be to our advantage.”

 

Amanda pointed to the holo-screen in the center of the room.  “There was an overload – one that probably shouldn’t have happened because the system is unbelievably robust, with more safeguards than I can count, but it happened. And - as with most overloads - it happened in the weakest link.”  
  
At the colonel’s vague look, Eli hastened to explain.  “The F.T.L. drive is made up of sixteen separate modules. The one that blew up was the weakest link because it was the least efficient.”  
  
“You're sure the ship can fly on the other drives?” Everett asked.  
  
“Even better than that,” Rush added.  
  
“Without the worn-out drive bringing down overall efficiency, Destiny should be able to make it across the void,” Amanda said happily.  
  
Young smiled, shoving his hands deep in his pockets and rocking back on his heels in relief. “That's great work.”  
  
Amanda shook her head ruefully.  “I wouldn't pat anyone on the back just yet. We still need to isolate and bypass the damage.”  
  
Rush pulled up the schematic, giving the colonel a visual of their newest problem.  “With no access to the core systems, it has to be done manually.”  
  
“Or ...” Eli interjected.  “We could use the robot we found.  We think it might be able to do some – or maybe all – of the repairs.”  


“I've already programmed rudimentary instructions to begin the repairs,” Amanda said, pleased that things were finally progressing.

 

Young inhaled sharply through his nose, trying to take in all the new information.  Finally, he reached for his radio.  “Scott, this is Young.  Eli and Dr. Perry have a shuttle mission to brief you on.”  He turned back to Rush as Eli and Amanda left the room to meet up with Scott.  “What are the odds?”

 

“That this is gonna work?” Rush shrugged.  “Fair to middling. Time's an issue.”  He thought for a moment before offering another suggestion.  “There _is_ another option.”

 

Young rolled his eyes.  “Right.  The chair.  Always the chair with you, Rush,” he said, raking a hand down his face in exasperation.

 

“Well, if we can gain access to the core systems, we can bypass that damaged section in a single command.”  
  
“Tell you what, if it comes right down to it, I'll sit in the thing myself.”

  
X*X*X*X*X

 

A tentative smile, one brought on by pure pleasure, broke out across Everett’s face as he looked up at the open door to his quarters to find TJ standing there.  “Hey,” he offered lamely, patting the cushion on the sofa next to him.  He tried to hide his disappointment that she hadn’t brought along any of her things.  He wanted nothing more than for her to move in with him, but if she wasn’t ready, he would have to find it within himself to be more patient.

 

“Hey,” she returned as she sat next to him and let him pull her into his side with the arm he curled over her shoulders.  She turned her head away as he tried to kiss her, his lips grazing her cheek instead.  “Um…I’d like permission to join the team going through the stargate to the planet.”

 

Everett sighed and pressed his brow to hers, happy she wasn’t trying to escape his embrace.  “Scott’s going as soon as he returns from his shuttle mission to position the robot in the FTL drive for repairs.”

 

She arched a brow at him.  “So is this how it's gonna be?  Maybe I’d like to see the planet where I might have to raise our child,” she said, giving him a pointed look, clearly accusing him of being overprotective.

 

“You mean, if the ship isn’t fixed by then.”

 

“Yeah.  Maternal instincts, I guess.”

 

A slow grin curled his mouth into a half moon grin as he pulled back enough to look into her iolite eyes.  “Perhaps I can be persuaded…”

 

TJ rolled her eyes.  “Everett—“

 

He covered her lips with a finger, cutting off her protests until she’d heard what he had to say.  “Spend the night with me.  Just to sleep,” he insisted softly as she moved to get up off the sofa.  “Just to sleep, Tamara.”

 

“You’re pushing it, Everett,” she scolded, stiffening in his arms.

 

He nuzzled below her ear, encouraged when he felt her shiver.  He knew she wasn’t completely opposed to the idea.  Otherwise she would have easily escaped his loose embrace.  “Is it so farfetched to think I wouldn’t want to share my bed with the woman I love, hm?  Stay with me.”

 

TJ couldn’t deny the idea was tempting.  How long had it been since she’d been held by _anyone_ , much less the man she’d been in love with for longer than she cared to contemplate?  She pushed against his shoulders and eyed him warily.  “Just to sleep?”

 

He nodded, unable to hide his pleased smile at her capitulation.  “Just to sleep.”

 

“I’m not moving in with you.  I want to make that clear.”

 

He pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth as the tension eased from her posture and her soft curves melted into him.  “Crystal.  Not until you’re ready.”

 

“Ok.”

 

“You’ll stay?” he asked hopefully, needing final confirmation of her acceptance.

 

“Yes, as soon as I return from the planet,” she agreed, wrapping her arms about his neck and pulling him in for the kiss he’d been longing for.  


X*X*X*X*X

 

“Lt. Scott found fresh water due east of the stargate.  That’ll be your first stop,” Young said, briefing Greer on the mission as he adjusted the fastenings on the tactical vest so it would fit over TJ’s swollen belly.  He still wasn’t comfortable about her going offworld without him, but he had to show her he wasn’t trying to be an overbearing ass.    Even though he was, he thought wryly. There was enough of that going on between Rush and French.

 

Greer checked his weapon and nodded.  “We should check out as much land as possible in case we end up having to live there.”

 

TJ nodded her agreement as the event horizon whooshed outward, smiling slightly at Young as he fidgeted with the straps.  Finally, he stepped back and ordered Eli to send the Kino through the gate.

 

Eli reluctantly followed the order.  “You know, we just came from there. This is a waste of time.”  
  
“It's standard procedure, Eli, and we will be taking no chances with losing any of you again.”  
  
Eli rolled his eyes as he looked down at his remote.  “If you ask me, sometimes you military people are a little too...”  He trailed off as the Kino showed two Nakai ships hovering near the stargate, their weapons powering up.  “Holy crap!”  The ship fired towards the gate.  “Did you see that?”  


“I saw,” Young said, turning towards Riley who was manning the primary console.  “Shut it down.”

 

“Looks like they found your camp,” Greer murmured as the gate shut down and hissed.  


TJ cast a worried glance at Young.  “Can they get through the stargate?”  
  
Everett shook his head.  “Not without a remote.”  
  
Eli cast a wide-eyed look of horror at the gate.  “Lucky we weren't still there or else they'd  _have_ one.”  
  
The colonel glowered at the gate as if it were somehow its fault for allowing this to happen.  “Either way, we're cut off. We  _have_  to fix the ship.”

  
X*X*X*X*X

 

_Three weeks later…_

 

“Dr. Rush,” Belle purred silkily into her walkie.  “Please repot to C-deck, bay four, please.”

 

Rush cut off midsentence, in his conversation with Amanda, as a shiver started at the base of his spine and traveled up his back to roll over his shoulders.  That tone of Belle’s voice never ceased to make the breath catch in his chest and his mind conjure the most lurid visions of them together.  His tongue snaked out to wet his suddenly dry lips as he lifted the radio from his belt. 

 

He was forced to clear his throat to make his voice work and still it came out in a husky whisper.  “Yes, love?  Why would I want to do that?”

 

“Because I require…” she drew the word out in a cajoling tone, “…a half hour of your time.  Surely you can spare that much for me, hm?”

 

Rush swallowed convulsively, the Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat.  “C-deck, bay four.  On my way.”  He clicked off the radio and reattached it to his belt before turning an apologetic look towards Amanda.  “I’m sorry, Mandy.  I won’t be long.”

 

She simply cast him an amused smile.  “Tell Belle I’ll see her at dinner,” was all she said, however.

 

He quickly stepped out of the way as Scott led some of his fellow soldiers and a few civilians in their daily run through the ship.  Shaking his head, he headed towards the nearest utility ladders that would take him to the lower deck, figuring it would be quicker than waiting on the elevator.  Several of the military personnel were loitering about the corridors, but he ignored them all as he sought out the bay Belle had directed him to.

 

Passing the storage bay that had been converted into a pub…Brody’s latest pet project…he couldn’t help but wonder if the latest batch would taste more like turpentine or paint thinner.  The man had been positively jovial when Belle had suggested using some of the fruit peelings from the hydroponics lab.  They were being made into compost, but if he could rescue them for the still instead, she was certain the populace of Destiny would be overjoyed to have a better tasting moonshine.

 

It didn’t take long to reach bay four and he groaned as he stepped through the open doors.  “There you are,” Belle smiled, her hips swaying in a rather distracting manner as she walked over to him and linked her arm through his.  “Come in and have a seat, darling.  I just finished with Rivers and you can be next.”

 

“Um…maybe this isn’t such a good idea,” he hedged nervously as he allowed her to lead him to the empty chair.

 

Belle smirked as she pushed him down into the chair and wrapped a towel around his shoulders.  “We’ve talked about this, Nicholas.  The colonel has already sent the first wave down and they’ve all been rather happy to have their hair cut.”

 

“But, Belle, love—“

 

She picked up the clippers and started on his beard, clipping it closely to his face.  He’d grown rather partial to the look and she wouldn’t take that away from him, but it wouldn’t hurt to neaten it up some.  “See you’re already looking more like yourself,” she offered with a bright smile, “and less like a caveman.  Besides,” she leaned close brushing a long lock aside and nuzzled the hot spot behind his ear with her lips, “you promised.”

 

His eyes darkened considerably as he shifted in his seat, fighting back a white hot surge of lust that settled in his groin.  “I was under duress when I agreed.”

 

Belle chuckled softly as she used a spray bottle and wet his hair and then pulled the comb through the damp locks.  “Duress, huh?”

 

“You asked me while I was in the math corridor working on calculations for the FTL drive…”

 

“…and you weren’t paying attention when I asked.  Not my fault,” she sing-songed as she began snipping away with the scissors.

 

His eyes widened as he watched the amount of hair slipping through her fingers to land haphazardly around him.  “Belle, you’re cutting too much!”

 

“No, I’m not. Just relax, darling.”

 

“Don’t _darling_ me while you’re attempting to scalp me!” he hissed, trying to evade the scissors and her grasping hands.  She rubbed her hand gently over the tense muscles in his neck and he relaxed a bit before she continued her snipping.  “Could’ve given me some warning instead of luring me down here thinking—“

 

She giggled and combed out his freshly shorn locks.  “I’m sorry I misled you,” she said as she reached for the small square of mirror she’d taken out of her vanity bag.

 

“You are not,” he grumbled.  “This falls under the heading of manipulation, _mo chroí_.”

 

She ran a hand over the back of his hair as she leaned down to kiss his cheek, her face next to his in the mirror.  “Look how handsome you look…distinguished,” she murmured, nuzzling his neck now.  He snorted.  “Oh, hush.”

 

“May I go back to work now or do you have something else with which to bedevil me?” he asked, arching a brow at her.

 

Belle sighed.  She knew he wasn’t upset with her, but he just couldn’t resist teasing her.  “Perhaps later I’ll think of something.”

 

“That’s what I’m afraid of.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Rush slid into the small booth, in the pub, next to Belle and slid his arm about her waist.  “I’m sorry we’re late,” he explained, raising his voice to be heard of the music pulsing through the intercom speakers.  With a little ingenuity Brody and Belle had isolated the speakers in this room to play the music files that had been downloaded into Destiny’s mainframe.  The new pub added some much needed flow of alcohol as well as a welcome relief from the boredom that had gripped the entire crew of late.

 

“I want hot wings,” Belle pouted.  “With ranch dressing.  And maybe some chili cheese fries.”

 

Amanda laughed as she slid into the booth next to Vanessa and Chloe.  “You must really miss your favorite comfort foods,” she said to Belle.  “Though I never understood how you could eat all that spicy food.”

 

Brody came over with a tray of drinks and set them before the group.  “Hopefully, the modifications I made to my recipe are more satisfying than last time,” he said by way of greeting.  Belle gave him a thumbs up as she sipped cautiously at the strong brew.  Satisfied, he shuffled off.

 

“This is an improvement over what? Sulphuric acid?” Amanda gasped, coughing as the burning alcohol seared her throat.

 

“It’s not so bad,” Chloe murmured, casting a small smile in the woman’s direction.  It was evident to everyone that this wasn’t her first drink of the evening.

 

“So what kept you, darling?” Belle asked, leaning her head against his shoulder.

 

Nicholas grinned down at her, relishing the feeling of her pressed so tightly to his side.  “The robot finished the outside repairs and we’ve successfully isolated the drive.”

 

“That was the easy part,” Amanda interjected.  “We still have to start on the bypass.  That’s going to be a bit tricky without access to the core systems.”

 

“If anyone can get around that particular problem, it’s you and Nicholas.  I have every faith in you, Mandy,” Belle smiled over at her friend.  She turned to Vanessa again, picking up their conversation the three of them had been having before Nicholas and Mandy had joined them.  “Vanessa, finish telling us about your dream.”

 

The lieutenant shrugged, not quite comfortable sharing with the added members to their party, but decided she couldn’t put it off when everyone was staring at her so expectantly.  “So, I’m in a room, but I’m not me.”

 

“What’d you see?” Chloe asked, her eyes slightly unfocused as she finished off her drink.

 

“Nothing.  Just darkness, but I _know_ I’m not alone.  It’s like someone is there and watching me,” Vanessa said, lowering her voice so she wouldn’t be overheard by any of her fellow soldiers.  She didn’t need people thinking she was losing it.

 

Belle narrowed her gaze on the lanky brunette.  “What if it _isn’t_ a dream?  It sounds a lot like what I experienced using the communication stones.”

 

“A hiccup with the stones, perhaps, when she switched with Mandy?” Rush asked, eyeing Belle curiously.  He looked directly at the lieutenant.  “Did you wipe the stone clean after the failed transfer?”

 

“No,” Vanessa said, looking worried.  “Should I have?”

 

“I think you may need to talk with Everett,” Belle said, tossing back the rest of her drink.  “Just to be on the safe side.

 

“Come on, Nessa, I’ll go with you,” Chloe offered, pulling herself rather unsteadily to her feet.

 

Belle watched them walk out of the pub and shrugged, signaling Brody for another round.  Rush caught her hand.  “Don’t you think you’ve had enough, love?”

 

“I’ve only had two,” she protested, grinning up at him.  “Mandy needs another one anyway.”

 

“I don’t know about that, Belle,” the scientist hedged with a wry smirk.

 

“Come on…live a little.”

 

Amanda took the drink Brody set down before her and choked down a sip.  “You guys are so lucky to be a part of this project.  Being here is a dream come true for me.”

 

Rush nodded thoughtfully and looked down at Belle, her features relaxed and tranquil.  She’d been pushing herself too hard lately.  It would do her good to relax, but he knew he’d better get her to their quarters before she fell asleep on him. 

 

“Well, when the FTL drive malfunctioned, I couldn’t think of anyone more qualified than you, Mandy.  I’m just glad you agreed to come up here.”  He smiled at Amanda as he rose and pulled Belle up beside him, tucking her into his side.  “Care to walk back with me?  She’s nearly asleep on her feet.”

 

Amanda nodded and rose, following his slow progress from the pub.  “You work her just as hard here as you did on Earth, Nick. Shame on you,” she teased.

 

“Cheap labor,” he said in an aside, grinning wickedly.

 

“Heard..” hiccup “…that,” Belle slurred, sagging wearily against him as they stepped off the elevator and he steered her towards the dome and the corridor that led to their quarters.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

TJ groaned and pulled the duvet over her head as she shook Young’s shoulder with a gentle hand.  She’d caved again when he’d asked her to spend the night, enjoying the security she felt sleeping in his arms.  “Everett, there’s someone at the door.”

 

He grumbled sleepily and burrowed his face into her long unbound blonde tresses.  “They’ll go away eventually.”

 

“Would you rather for me to answer it?” she asked silkily, pressing a kiss to his brow.

 

His eyes flew open and he whipped the duvet aside.  “I’m up.  Don’t move, I’ll be right back.”

 

He continued to grumble as he pulled his pants on and padded barefoot to the door.  Vanessa and a very tipsy Chloe stood on the threshold.  He glared down at his watch.  “It’s one a. m.  This had better be good.”

 

“Um…” Vanessa quailed, casting a grimace in Chloe’s direction.  Her friend waved a hand, encouraging her to tell Young the current problem.  “I think…”  She took a deep breath and forced herself to meet his bemused gaze.  “I think  _I_  was the one who damaged the ship.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Amanda hovered in the doorway as Rush carried Belle to their bed and laid her atop the duvet.  She hadn’t made it past the dome before the combination of overwork and strong alcohol had gotten to her.  Rush laid her gently on their bed and slid the sandals from her feet, massaging her arches for a moment before tucking her beneath the duvet and brushed a kiss to her brow.  It made Amanda curse the fates.  If she hadn’t had her accident when she was nine, perhaps it would be her here with him instead of Belle.

 

He ushered her back out into the corridor, insisting that he’d walk with her to her quarters.  “My Belle can usually hold her liquor better than that,” he chuckled.  “Then again, Mr. Brody’s swill has the tendency to go straight to your head.  It has one redeeming quality…”

 

Her head swam with dizziness.  “Yeah, I’m starting to notice that _redeeming quality_ as we speak.”  She cast him a furtive glance from beneath her lashes, her fingers fidgeting and twisting as she walked beside him.

  
“You'll have to ask yourself if it was worth it in the morning,” he laughed.  


“Nick, can I ask you something?” she asked, trying to pluck up the courage to ask what she really wanted.  “After your wife passed away and we’d have those long talks, did you have any clue as to how I felt about you?”  


A tiny furrow appeared between his brows as they stopped outside her door, just down the hall from his own.  “I thought you felt sorry for me, to be honest,” he murmured, raising his dark eyes to meet hers.

 

Amanda smiled ruefully, nodding.  “I guess I thought the same about you at first.”

 

Rush snorted.  “I thought you were absolutely brilliant.  I still do.”  


Amanda tilted her head to the side, her smile becoming sad.  She closed the distance between them and laid her hand against his cheek, her eyes searching his and finding only confusion and perhaps a bit of trepidation.  “I could never feel sorry for you, Nick.  I care too much about you.”

 

Rush froze as she leaned into him and brushed her lips to his.  The gears that seemed to always be turning in his head with perfect precision grinding to a halt as if someone had taken a hammer to the cogs.  Was she really telling him she had unrequited feelings for… _him_?  His heart sped up and not from any desire he might have for the woman whose soft lips were pressed so sweetly to his.  No, this was from fear that he’d slipped into another alternate timeline! 

 

 _What the fucking hell?!?!_   “Mandy,” he sputtered, his voice heavy and thick with disbelief as he took her hands in his and stepped back.  “I-I don’t…uh…I can’t do this.”

 

Her smile was a little too bright as she squeezed his hands, gaining her release as she took the final few steps to her door.  She pressed the door release, the door whooshing open.  “I know, Nick.  Good night.”

 

Rush stood there in the hall for a good three minutes, staring at the door, completely flummoxed.  Amanda Perry had just kissed him.  He pinched himself, wincing at the pain.  No, he wasn’t dreaming.  He turned on his heel and quickly made his way to his own quarters.  He needed Belle…now.  She would somehow help him make sense of this.  But she wasn’t where he’d left her, he noticed as the door whooshed open.  Where the hell was she?

 

The unmistakable sounds of retching coming from the lavatory answered that question for him.  He stuck his head around the door.  “Belle?”

 

“Go away,” she answered with a pitiful sob before heaving up the remaining contents of her stomach.  “I swear Brody tried to poison me.  I’m going to ask Young to shut him down.”

 

Rush opened the stall door and sank down behind her, gathering her hair in his hands to hold it out of the way.  “You’ll be alright, _mo chroí_.  After a good night’s rest, plenty of water and one of TJ’s headache powders, you’ll be right as rain.”

 

“No, I won’t,” she wailed.  “I’m dying.”

 

He sat her back to lean against the wall of the stall and left to retrieve a cool wet cloth to clean her face.  “You’re not dying,” he murmured in a low tone, one meant to soothe, as he cleaned her face and stroked her hair back away from her brow.  When she seemed to relax, he lifted her in his arms and carried her back to their room, helping her out of her clothes and tucking her back under the duvet.  He joined her a moment later, just as bare as she was, and pulled her into the circle of his arms.  “Belle?”

 

She grunted in response, more than ready to either die or go to sleep, whichever came first.

 

“Mandy…uh…I walked Mandy to her quarters and she…um…she kissed me,” he stammered, watching her upturned face for her reaction.

 

Belle groaned and cracked an eye open to stare up at him through the haze of pain attacking her temples.  “Damn.  I was afraid this would happen.”

 

“Wait! What?!” he asked, incredulous that she was taking this so well.

 

“She’s in love with you, darling….has been for years.  Can’t say as I blame her for wanting to kiss you.”

 

Nicholas blinked, rethinking his alternate reality theory.  “You knew?  How did you know when I hadn’t the first clue?  And how could you keep such a thing from me?”

 

Belle sighed.  “Gods, Nicholas, you can be so thick sometimes.  For a brilliant scientist, you have no perception of what we mere mortals call people skills.  How could you not notice the endless hours of her puppy eyes?” she mumbled, snuggling deeper into his embrace.  “Did you kiss her back?”

 

“NO!”

 

“Stop yelling!” she groaned again.  “I was just curious, darling.  I trust you.”  After everything they’d been through, how could she not?  He’d more than proven his love for her and it would take more than an infatuated kiss from a friend to sway him.

 

“I just don’t understand it.  She’s our friend, our colleague,” he tried to reason with her.  “A little warning would have been appreciated.”

 

Belle sighed, stroking her hand over his back in soothing circles.  “I’m sorry.  I just didn’t want things to be awkward between you.  It’s imperative that you can work with her on the FTL drive.  You have to get over it and act like everything is normal, Nicholas.  She’s still your friend.”

 

“I think maybe I should be less worried about Mandy and more concerned as to why this hasn’t upset you,” he snarked, his eyes drooping dramatically under her ministrations.

 

“I love you.  That’s all you need to remember.  Now go to sleep.  My face hurts and I can’t talk anymore,” she slurred sleepily, pressing her face against the warm skin in the crook of his neck.

 

“I love you too, my Belle,” he whispered against her hair.  But it was still a while before he could calm his mind enough to sleep.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle groaned as she slumped over the console in the control room, trying to focus on the calculations in Rush’s notebook that she was supposed to be entering into the computer.  She paused to rub at her temples as her eyes slammed shut against the pain.  Never again, she vowed.  Never again would she indulge so heavily.  Who really needed to be awake at such an ungodly hour?  She glanced down at her watch…ten a.m.  Well maybe not so ungodly after all.

 

Rush lifted his head at the sound of her groan, his brow instantly knitting into a dark frown.  His gaze swung to Amanda, who stood next to him at his own console.  She didn’t seem to be suffering any ill-effects from her foray into the pub last night, but Belle, Chloe and Vanessa had started drinking well before they’d arrived.  He was still in shock over the latter part of the evening…more precisely over the kiss Mandy had pressed to his mouth.  Thankfully, she hadn’t said anything about it when she’d joined him in the control room that morning and he wasn’t likely to bring it up.

 

His frown darkened further as Belle groaned again.  “ _Mo stór_ , why don’t you go lie down?  You look a little green.”  He winced as she lifted her head and shot him a baleful glare, clearly not appreciating his patronizing tone.  He hadn’t meant it to sound more than sympathetic, but she was in a mood this morning and in pain on top of it.

 

“No, I’m fine.  I’ve work to do,” she said softly, trying to keep her voice low so as not to aggravate her headache.  Even her teeth hurt.

 

TJ pulled a small tin of her headache powder from her kit and offered it to Belle.  “Take some of this and go lie down.  Listen to Dr. Rush, Belle.  He’s only concerned for you.”

 

Belle scowled at Rush across the room, but reluctantly accepted the medicine from her friend.  She’d tried to convince him she didn’t need help with her hangover, but he’d called on TJ anyway.

 

Young breezed into the control room, his visage grim.  “We have a problem.  Lt. James left the communications lab without wiping her imprint off the stone.  It got knocked off the table, nobody noticed.  We think that, in that opportunity, an alien might have taken advantage, used the stones and sabotaged our FTL drive.”

 

TJ looked startled.  “She told me she blacked out around the time of the explosion. I thought it was post-concussion syndrome.”  
  
“Well, mystery solved,” Rush said, looking up at the colonel.  “I don't see how it changes anything.”  
  
“What part don't you get?” Eli asked, stunned where he stood at the room’s third console.  
  
“They  _know_  we're out here, Nicholas,” Belle murmured, raising her worried gaze to him as she felt the familiar fear grip her heart in dread.  
  
“Yeah, they already did,” he agreed, “but without a tracking device, there's no way of them knowing where we've dropped out of FTL.”  
  
“He's right,” Amanda interjected. “The void is unimaginably huge. They  _can't_  know our location.”  
  
Young shook his head, exasperated.  “Unless the alien who took over James' body managed to broadcast it.”  
  
“Like a sub-space message, you mean,” Rush murmured, stroking his chin with his fingertips as he pondered the idea.  
  
“Or the alien figured out our position before the explosion and took it back with them,” Eli grimaced, nervously fidgeting with the zipper on his jacket.  
  
Amanda looked over at Eli curiously. “How would it know how?  There are still so many unanswered questions as to how the stones work.”  
  
“They sabotaged the ship! How did they know how to do  _that_?!” Eli snapped irritably.  
  
“He's right,” Rush sighed resignedly, realizing they had little choice now but to stand and fight or…surrender. “That's it, then.  They're coming.”

  
X*X*X*X*X

 

Everett’s fingers brushed lightly against the envelopes resting innocuously on his desk.  He’d spent the better part of an hour saying goodbye and leaving final orders for his first lieutenant.  He was going to sit in the chair and there was little hope for him coming away unscathed.  He needed to know the ship was in good hands, and the job would fall to Scott.  His letter to Tamara was a little more personal.  He’d poured his heart out to her and finally written the words he hadn’t been able to say to her in person.  He left them there, knowing TJ would find them later, and headed to the control room where Eli and Rush were waiting for him.

 

He looked at Belle in surprise as he entered the room.  She stood in front of Rush’s console in a set of borrowed fatigues, a tactical vest covering her from collar to waist and two 9mm handguns secured in their holsters.  “What the hell, Dr. French?”

 

Belle shrugged noncommittally.  “Greer insisted.  Since he trained me in basic defense, he is convinced there is no one better to protect the science team.”  She smirked, one side of her mouth curling up.  “I’m multi-tasking.”

 

Young rolled his eyes at her cheek and moved to the console where Eli was ready with the comms.  “Let's go.”  
  
Eli activated the intercom and Young took a deep breath, realizing this may very well be the last time he addressed his crew.  “This is Young.  While repairs to the ship are still days from being complete, despite our best efforts, we believe an attack will happen at any moment,” he announced, his voice ringing through every speaker on the ship.  “The shields will not withstand a sustained bombardment.  This time we will not be able to jump to FTL.  Neither can we escape through the stargate.”  He paused, thinking briefly of Tamara who was in the infirmary preparing for any injured.  He said a silent prayer for her safety and that of their unborn child.  “Lt. Scott will be in charge of our ship’s defenses.  Follow his orders as you would mine.  If boarded, Sergeant Greer will coordinate the strike teams.  But everyone will have to join in our defense. We'll give them a good fight.”  He stepped away from the console as Eli switched off the intercom.  He smiled ruefully at Amanda.  “When the time comes, don’t wait too long.”  
  
Everett nodded to Rush and strode out of the room.  Amanda turned her worried gaze to her friends as he put a comforting hand on her shoulder.  “You’ll be ok.  Belle won’t let anything happen to you.  I promise.”  He rounded the console and cradled Belle’s face in his hands, pressing a kiss to her brow.  “You know what to do,” he said, knowing she wouldn’t fail to protect Eli and Amanda.

 

“I do.  Nicholas, please be careful,” she whispered, leaning into his touch.

 

“I will.  If we’re boarded, get Amanda to the communications lab.  Get her home, Belle.  Then come find me in the chair interface room.”  He pulled back enough so she could make no mistake of the warning in his gaze.  “Do _not_ take any unnecessary chances.”

 

She nodded, too overcome with emotion to voice what was in her heart.  He knew.  It took every ounce of will she possessed to watch him walk out the door of the control room without blindly rushing after him.   


X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle pulled up the holo-screen in the center of the room as Amanda bolstered the shields and Eli readied the weapons system, making certain they were online.  “They’re here,” she said as Scott came into the room.  She could see the tight lines of tension about his mouth as he was faced with his first real battle without the colonel there to take command.  “Lieutenant, we’re as ready as we’ll ever be.  It will be fine,” she said, willing it to be so.

 

Down the corridor from the control room, Young entered the chair interface room and removed the sidearm from the holster at his hip, handing it to Rush.  “Tell me what to do.”

 

“We've managed to isolate the damaged module from the rest,” Rush said, tucking the pistol in the rear waistband of his jeans.  “You have to command the ship to enter F.T.L. on the remaining drives.”  
  
“How the hell do I do that?” Young asked, wondering if the scientist expected a miracle.  
  
“Well, first, you have to sit in the Chair.”  Rush walked over to the console as Young turned and looked unhappily at the chair. 

 

He was interrupted as Vanessa ran into the room, clearly out of breath due to her mad dash to the chair room.  “Wait! Doctor Franklin just spoke - something about the Chair.”  
  
The colonel frowned darkly at her, realizing they were pressed for time.  They didn’t have time to worry over the catatonic doctor.  “Well, what about it?”  
  
Vanessa shrugged helplessly.  “Well, that's it, that's all he said, but I think he knows what's going on and I think he was trying to say that it should be him.”  
  
“You can't possibly know that.”  
  
“No, sir, but I really think that ...”  
  
The ship shook violently as the Nakai began to bombard the shields with enemy fire.   
  
Young turned back to the chair, shaking his head. “We're under attack. I'm gonna do this.”  
  
“No, wait a minute,” Rush interjected. “She might be right.”  
  
“I can't ask a man to sacrifice his life, Rush.”  
  
“Franklin's already been through the process. His brain will have had time to heal from the trauma,” Rush continued to argue, trying to get through to the man.  He might not like Young…at all…but he couldn’t see him going through the trauma of the chair when Franklin, already familiar with the process, had a better chance of success.  
  
“We don't have time for this!” Young snapped belligerently, tired of arguing with the man.  
  
“Which is exactly why it should be him and not you!” Rush said, hurrying forward to grab Young’s arm before he could ignore him and sit in the chair.  “At least give him the choice.”  


X*X*X*X*X

 

Rush swiftly made his way to Franklin’s quarters, Lt. James and the colonel trailing behind him.  At least Young had relented enough to ask Franklin before proceeding with the chair interface himself.  Nicholas looked at his former colleague, sitting on the side of the bed and staring straight ahead, and knelt before him, his dark sable eyes sympathetic.

 

“Dr. Franklin,” Rush said softly, taking his meaty hand in one of his own.  Franklin looked down at him, his eyes wide, a look of bewilderment on his placid features.  “Dr. Franklin. This ship is under attack. If someone doesn't go back and sit in the chair and help the repairs, then the ship's gonna be taken. We're  _all_  gonna be taken.”

 

Franklin’s gaze wandered slightly, as if unable to keep his focus on any of them.  His mouth moved as he struggled to speak, not a sound issuing forth from his trembling lips.  The ship jolted as it was hit again with another wave of enemy fire and Vanessa and the colonel fought to keep their feet.  Young righted himself and leaned down, bracing his hands against his knees as he brought himself level with the ailing doctor.  “Do you understand what we are asking you to do?”  


Franklin’s gaze wandered over to Young as once again he tried to speak.  He finally lowered his head, forcing himself to concentrate every bit of his effort on the hand held loosely in Rush’s.  He squeezed Nicholas’s hand and nodded, relieved that he was able to make himself understood at last.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Scott focused his attention on the holo-screen, sweat beading on his brow as he watched the swarm of Nakai fighter ships beginning to deploy from the mother ships.  He switched his gaze to Eli.  “Alright, concentrate your fire on the smaller ships that are gonna try and board us.”

 

Belle’s fingers rapidly flew over her keyboard, monitoring several systems at once.  “Shields are holding at seventy eight percent.  We’re good.”

 

“Diverting power to the weapons system,” Amanda chimed nervously.

 

“We’re good so far, Scott,” Eli confirmed.  


Destiny jolted again as the mother ships continued to bombard the shields, the fighters joining the fray.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Rush and Everett gently eased Franklin into the chair.  Immediately, a spotlight shone down on him and the chair activated, the clamps snapping into place over his wrists and ankles and the headrest flipping up as the prongs attached themselves to his temples.  Young turned to Vanessa and nodded, sending her back to her station to prepare for the Nakai boarding party.  


Rush hurried over to his console as a white mist began to descend from the metal ceiling.  “The temperature’s dropping fast.”

 

“Any idea why?” Young asked, looking up at Rush.  
  
Rush shook his head, flummoxed.  “I don't know. This is something new.”  
  
There was a short buzz from the chair, the light fluctuated and Franklin’s closed eyes flickered open as he looked up at Young standing before him.  “Go,” he commanded, his tone brooking no objection.

 

Young glanced over at Rush and nodded, ushering him out of the room.  The door whooshed closed behind them, the lock engaging as the mist around him intensified.

 

In the control interface room an alarm sounded, drawing Eli’s worried frown.  “Something’s happening.”  He rushed over to Amanda’s console to see if hers showed the same readouts as his.  
  
Rush and Young left Riley standing guard outside the chair room with orders not to let anyone in before racing back to the control room.  Scott looked up in surprise as he entered the room.  “Sir, I thought you were…”

  
“The FTL drive is powering up,” Amanda said, breathless with excitement.

 

The countdown clock beeped.  It started a steady stream of red digits as it counted down from ten.  The Nakai continued to fire upon them as the FTL drive engaged and propelled them forward across the void, leaving their enemy behind.  


Rush pulled Belle into a one-armed hug, needing to feel her pressed to his side as he felt relief course through his body.

  
Young looked around at his assembled crew. “What's our status?”  
  
“The damaged section of the ship has been bypassed; the FTL drive has increased efficiency. It's a bit early to say, but it looks like we're gonna make it across,” Rush replied, looking down at the data on his console.  


Young heaved a huge sigh of relief and started out of the room, Eli following.  Rush looked across at Amanda and smiled.  “We did it,” he said, gratitude evident in his voice.

 

Amanda returned his smile with a sad one of her own.  “Yes, we did.  And now it’s time to go.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

“Where’ve you been?” Nicholas asked, slipping his arms about Belle as she stood on the observation deck at the railing, watching Destiny cut through the endless black of the void between the galaxies.  He frowned at the military garb still swathing her slim frame.  “And why are you still armed?”

 

She shook her head.  “I haven’t made it to the armory yet to check my weapons.  I wanted to see the void.  It’s so empty, Nicholas,” she whispered, leaning back into his embrace.  “Just black and empty.  It’s rather frightening if you think about it.”

 

“We’ll be fine, _mo chroí_.  Don’t fret,” he soothed her, his lips caressing the shell of her ear.

 

“How was Mandy when she left?”

 

“Sad to go.  This was a dream for her,” he answered, a sad smile quirking his lips.  “At least she didn’t try to kiss me again, though.”

 

Belle chuckled softly.  “There’s that at least.”  She sobered and hugged his arms tighter about her waist.  “I wish there were something we could do for her.  We have the entire universe at our disposal.  There should be something…some technology…that could help her.”

 

“Who knows, Belle?  Maybe if we’re out here long enough we’ll find a civilization advanced enough to cure her paralysis.  Then we’ll just have to figure out a way to get her on board in her own body.”

 

She turned in his arms and nuzzled against his chest, weary of the view and ready to change and perhaps convince him to take a nap with her.  “Did they find Dr. Franklin?”

 

When Rush and Young had gone back to the chair room, their savior had been gone.  Riley had reported that no one had entered or left the room, which certainly didn’t explain what had happened to the man.  “I don’t know, love.  Perhaps he ascended.  We may never know.”

 

“My brain feels like mush,” she murmured with a huge yawn.  “I need a nap.  Care to join me?”

 

“It’s the middle of the day,” he protested, arching a brow at her.

 

“It’s dark outside, though.  It’s telling me I need a nap,” she insisted.  Her hands slipped beneath the back of his shirt, her nails gently scraping against his skin and sending a pleasurable tingle along his nerve endings. Other parts of his body were already applauding the idea if the arousal pressing into her belly was any indication.

 

He bent to kiss her, his lips gliding gently over hers.  “I think you may be right.  We’ve earned it.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I wanted to give a little insight into Young’s relationship with TJ and also the struggle Vanessa has with being a woman soldier aboard Destiny, the way she looks up to Young and things she has to cope with. I really liked her character. We’ll be seeing more of her in season two for sure. Hope you all weren’t disappointed with Mandy’s foray onto Destiny. I hated her storyline with Rush on SGU. If they were going to pair him with anyone, it should have been Chloe IMO. They had the most potential for character development with one another. Anyway, there will be some angst in the next chapter so be prepared. It’s the chapter with the ticks. Hallucinations played a key factor in that episode, but I’ve chosen to do things a bit differently. I’ve promised to make Jazz cry so if you’re as tenderhearted as she is…well here’s your warning lol. Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing! Your support of this fic is just so amazing :D


	17. Pain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Ugh!! I hated this episode. There was no way I was going to be able to do anything with it, so I came up with my own game plan. I tried to stay true to the premise for the episode, but Belle’s experience is a bit more angsty than I’d originally planned. Just…um…make sure you have a fresh box of tissues (according to my beta who was curled in a fetal position sobbing WOOBIE! For an hour or better). Please don’t give up on me. Read it all the way through before you decide to send the angry mob for me.

 

It was late when Belle stumbled through the stargate, Rush at her side, Dunning and Scott bringing up the rear.  She yawned widely as she dropped her pack next to Riley, who was overseeing the unloading of the Kino sled and what goods they’d collected, and trudged off towards the changing bay where she could slip out of her fatigues and back into her more comfortable clothes.  “I’m so tired,” she said, slipping into her sandals.  “I think I’m going to go to bed.  Are you coming?”

 

Rush already had his notebook in hand, his mind whirling with things he wanted to do.  “I’m sorry, love, what?” he asked distractedly, his eyes scanning the page.

 

“Are you coming to bed?” she asked again, pulling her black crew shirt on and doing up the buttons. 

 

He cast her a look of regret.  “No, I can’t.  I’ve been away too long as it is.  I need to get back to work.”  His thin lips curled into a grin as he pulled her into his arms.  “Besides, you need to get some rest and…”

 

“…if you come with me, I won’t be resting?” she finished for him, leaning in to receive a kiss. 

 

“Exactly.  You have that meeting with O’Neil in the morning and you really should be rested and alert when you arrive,” he murmured against the shell of her ear as his lips found the sensitive flesh beneath her ear and sucked gently.

 

She swatted his shoulder and trailed her hand down his arm to twine his fingers with hers, pulling him along behind her.  She’d walk with him as far as the control room before leaving him for the night.  “I still don’t like the idea of visiting Earth without you.”

 

“You wouldn’t be going without me if he hadn’t requested your immediate presence.  Young wants me to oversee the repairs on the scrubber in the new section of the ship we’ve reclaimed and refuses to allow me to accompany you.”  He raised her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to her palm.  “Did the colonel tell you what they wanted with you at HWC?”

 

Belle shook her head, stifling another yawn.  “No.  Dr. Williams probably wants an update on our research regarding the gate and why we haven’t figured out the right sequence to dial home.  Telford’s no doubt pressuring him again.  I shouldn’t be gone more than an hour or two at most.”

 

He stopped in the darkened corridor outside the control room and pressed her against the bulkhead, his hips grinding into hers as his lips came crashing down on hers.  A low growl of pure need sounded in his throat as his tongue delved into her mouth.  Belle returned it with equal fervor, her hands carding through his hair to hold him in place should he decide to pull away.  Only their desperate need to breathe made her release him from her grasp to press her brow to his.

 

“Just make sure you come home to me,” he whispered, moving in to sip gently at her lips.

 

“I will, Nicholas.  I’ll never leave you for long, my love,” she purred, her hands sliding down his chest as he backed up a step.  “I’ll see you before I leave in the morning if not before, alright?”

 

He pressed his lips to her brow and nodded, his dark sable eyes locked on her back as she left him to his work.  Every time she left his sight, he felt the same familiar fear rise up to choke him, coiling in his belly like live eels until she returned to his side.  Their captivity at the hands of the Nakai and their separation when she’d been left behind on the planet of the ruins was still fresh in his mind, and he wondered if there would ever come a time that he wouldn’t fear losing her.

 

For the past month, it was uncommon to see one without the other.  He wasn’t pleased that she’d been summoned to Earth, but there was little he could do about it.  He couldn’t very well forbid it.  He tossed his notebook onto the console and scowled blackly at the empty room.  She’d come back to him…he was certain.  And if she didn’t, he’d simply sever the stones’ connection.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle stood next to the round table in the communications lab, flipping a stone from one hand to the other in her nervousness.  “So who am I switching with this time?” she asked, eyeing Riley warily as he switched the plate on and made a note on his clipboard to log her time in.

 

“Dr. McCormack, I believe.  I assume because you’ll be there meeting with Dr. Williams and she is part of his team,” Riley replied, smiling reassuringly at her.

 

She groaned and dropped into the chair provided for her.  “Rush is not going to be happy about that.  He doesn’t like her and to have her in my body is only going to make it worse.  Have you told Young?”

 

“I believe the colonel has already arranged for Dr. McCormack to spend her time with Eli discussing your joint research.”

 

Belle sighed and cast him a hesitant smile as she extended her hand towards the plate.  She took one last deep breath and placed her stone on the Ancient device, feeling herself fall through the void.  When she opened her eyes, she was at HWC in their communications lab, a smiling Peterson there to greet her. 

 

“Dr. French?” he asked, wanting to make certain the transfer had completed successfully.

 

Belle shook her head, trying to adjust to the strange body she inhabited.  “Yes, Major.  Is the General ready to see me?” she asked, rising unsteadily to her feet.  Alana McCormack was close to her height, so she could at least be thankful she wouldn’t have to adjust to that.

 

Peterson opened the door and ushered her out ahead of him.  “I will be your liaison here should you wish to leave headquarters while Earth-side.  Just let me know, Dr. French.  I’m at your disposal.”

 

A sly grin curled up one corner of her mouth as she looked at him.  “Well, I wouldn’t find it amiss if we left for a while to grab a bite to eat.  I’ve been craving a basket of chili fries like nobody’s business lately.”

 

Peterson led her into the General’s outer office and nodded.  “Whenever you’re ready.”  He knocked on the door and opened it at the General’s command to enter, closing it behind her after she’d entered.

 

Jack rose to his feet as she approached his desk, her shiny black heels muffled by the gray carpet.  “Dr. French, congratulations,” he said, gesturing for her to have a seat in one of the two chairs available.  “I didn’t get to tell you that when we received the news.”

 

“Thank you, Jack, but somehow I don’t think you called me all the way down here to congratulate me on my doctorate,” she retorted dryly.  “So, why don’t you tell me what this is all about, hm?”

 

He sat back in his chair and clasped his hands over his abdomen, his general mien slipping back into place.  “Williams will want to speak with you while you’re here, of course, but I called you down because we’re holding a person of interest…one who claims to know you.  And considering she broke through seven levels of security before she was caught, I wanted you to come in to identify her.”

 

“No one knows me, Jack,” Belle scoffed, waving a dismissive hand.  “I’ve spent ten years of my life buried in my studies, my research and my job.  If you recall, when you hired me, you remarked on my lack of social life and claimed I spent entirely too much time with Nicholas.  Any friends or acquaintances I have are somehow involved in the stargate program.”

 

“Well she seems to know _you_ , Belle.”  He regarded her quietly for a moment, searching her face for any signs that she might be less than forthcoming.  He withdrew several photographs from a file folder on his desk and slid them across the polished surface.  “She even knows how you like your cheeseburger.  So either she’s the best hacker in the country and has been stalking you, or she does indeed know you.”

 

Belle picked up the picture and flipped it over.  There was more than one, several angles from an array of security cameras scattered throughout the building.  Her face drained of color and her lower lip trembled as she stared at the woman in the photograph, a full frontal shot as she stared directly into the camera above her.  The slight smirk on her full lips, the determined gleam in her eyes…she _wanted_ to get caught.

 

“Has…” She released the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding in a whoosh, her eyes taking in the black leather jacket, boots and shock of golden curls spilling over the woman’s shoulders.  “Has she been read in?”

 

“Read in?!  She _knew_ about the program!  She knows all about us and we can’t find squat on her.”  He threw up his hands in disgust as he leaned forward on the desk.  “She worked as a bail bondsperson for several years in Boston, but then about twelve years ago she just dropped off the map.  Belle, I need to know what the hell is going on!”

 

“She knows where I am, then?”

 

“Apparently.”

 

“Let me speak to her.”  She rose to her feet and rested her palms on the desk, her eyes twin coals of ire in her borrowed face.  “I might be able to fix this,” she said, cutting him off when he opened his mouth to protest.

 

He nodded and reached for the phone, asking Peterson to come and escort her to holding.  She swallowed down the bile that rose to choke her at the thought of her past having finally caught up with her.  _Damnit, Emma, why couldn’t you have just left well enough alone._

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Peterson led her to the main holding area, which frankly was a brightly lit storage area.  They didn’t receive many _guests_ who tried to infiltrate the Pentagon.  The few who had tried over the years hadn’t made it far and ended up on the bad side of a bullet.  What the hell had Emma been thinking?  She stepped up to the thick plate glass, easily seeing into the room whereas Emma wouldn’t be able to see out.  Or so she thought as the Storybrooke sheriff raised her eyes and met Belle’s, her eyes narrowing curiously.  Things were just getting more and more confusing.

 

“Thank you, Major,” she smiled at Peterson.  He didn’t say anything as he let her into the room, but she knew he’d stand vigil at the glass to watch over her.  It was his duty after all.  She also knew if it appeared she was in danger, he’d call for a military contingent to get her out of there.  She wasn’t in danger, not from Emma Swan, but they had no way of knowing that.

 

Belle raised her gaze to meet Emma’s warm green eyes as she stepped over to the conference table where the woman sat.  “Miss Swan,” she said stonily, folding her arms over her chest as she looked down on her.  “It seems you’ve caused a wee bit of panic amongst my superiors.”

 

Emma rose to her feet and rounded the table, coming to stand before the diminutive doctor.  She tilted her head to the side, holding her silence.  Finally her eyes brightened and her lips broke into a smile.  “So…how’s it feel to be in someone else’s body?”

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Belle scoffed, maintaining the ruse.  She knew better than to tell _anyone_ of Destiny, Icarus or anything pertaining to the SGC and Homeworld Command.

 

“Oh come off it, Belle.  Do you really think I can’t tell it’s you?  Posture, tinted cheeks, crossed arms, the way your left eye crinkles just a bit more than your right when you stare at someone too hard?  Not to mention you have a very distinct mental signature,” Emma said quietly, knowing they were being watched.

 

Belle arched a dubious brow.  “How did you get past security?”

 

Emma perched a hip against the table and smiled again.  “You know…magic,” she said in her best imitation of a certain imp they’d both known long ago.

 

Belle gnashed her teeth together against the familiar pain that clenched her heart at the gesture.  “Be sure to tell our doctors that, Miss Swan.  They’ll be sure to find you a nice padded room.  I hear Thorazine comes in mocha mint now if that’s your thing.”

 

Emma huffed a small laugh as Belle turned to leave.  “Still witty as ever, eh?”  All pretense of amiability and friendship disappeared from the woman’s face as she grabbed Belle’s arm.  “Do you have any idea how long I’ve searched for you?  Why’d you leave?  Rumpelstil—“

 

“Don’t you dare say his fucking name, Emma!” she hissed, whirling about, her dark eyes flashing fire.  “You didn’t give a damn about him…or me!  You left me lying in the street while you ran off to play savior.  You have no right to say his name.”

 

“Knew you were in there,” Emma breathed out on a sigh.  “Belle, I know why you ran.  It can’t be easy to lose your true love.”  She shoved her hands in the pockets of her jeans as she leaned back on the table, suddenly uncomfortable.  “Look, your family has been worried about you.  You need to come home, even if it’s just for a day.”

 

“My family?  My father doesn’t give a damn about me.  He saw my choice to stay with Rum as a betrayal to him,” she said bitterly.  “I don’t have anything left in Storybrooke.  The town shouldn’t even be there after Pan’s curse.  How are you here at all?”

 

Emma shrugged.  “Regina.  She helped me and we were able to stop it.  You shouldn’t have left, Belle.  Storybrooke is your home.”

 

“No, it’s not.  My home is aboard Destiny a couple billion light years on the other side of the universe.  My home is with Nicholas and my friends…my _real_ friends,” she sneered.  “Storybrooke stopped being my home when my … when Gold died and you lot abandoned me in the street.”

 

“I haven’t spent the past ten years looking for you to go home empty handed.”

 

“How’d you find me, by the way?  I thought I covered my tracks rather well,” Belle said, glaring at the blonde.

 

“Wasn’t easy.  Every time I thought I might be able to pick up your trail, your social security number changed, your money trail vanished and my leads went cold,” Emma smirked wryly.

 

Belle laughed.  “It’s amazing who you meet in college.  If you know who to ask, you can get anything accomplished.  There were several in some of my computer classes who were quite brilliant.”

 

Emma nodded.  “So, you ready to go?”

Belle gaped at her.  “Go?  Emma I’m not going anywhere with you.  _You’re_ not going anywhere.  They’re going to keep you here until they dissect you to the minutest hair.  You broke into a government facility.  The only place you’re going is jail.”

 

The blonde sheriff waved a dismissive hand as she reached out and grabbed Belle’s elbow in a firm grip.  “Nah.  I’ve been locked up before.  Not gonna happen again.”

 

“Emma—“

 

A swirl of white mist and a chuckle and they disappeared.  Peterson burst into the room, radio in hand as he called for backup, but it was too late.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle fought off a wave of dizziness as the mist dissipated and she stumbled back against a car.  It was still a yellow Volkswagen bug, but a newer model.  Some things apparently never changed.  What surprised her, was that it was the only thing registering in her mind at the moment.  She should have been wondering how the savior was able to use magic outside of Storybrooke, when she’d never been able to do so before.

 

A warm hand reached out to steady her and her eyes widened.  “Easy there, Belle,” the owner of the warm masculine voice said reassuringly.  “It’s ok.”

 

“Baelfire!” she hissed, gaping at him.  “This is so far from ok it’s not even funny!  What are you _doing_ here?”

 

“I would think that would be obvious, Miss French,” a third voice said.  “I’m assuming you are indeed Miss French.  Otherwise, Emma wouldn’t have bothered to bring you along.”

 

The icy cold hand of dread squeezed her heart as Regina stepped out of the shadows and cast a smirk her way.  “Oh hell, this just keeps getting better and better.”  Belle threw her hands up, exasperated, and tried to get her bearings.  The bug was parked in a small lot outside a grocery store beneath a busted streetlight and she had to wonder if it had been like that before the trio had arrived.

 

“Don’t worry, Belle, you’ll feel better when we get home,” Neal smiled as he held the passenger door open for her.

 

Belle backed away.  “I don’t think so.  The only place I’m going - preferably without _any_ of you - is back to HWC and then to Destiny, so…if you’ll be so good as to excuse me.”

 

Regina reached out and snagged her wrist, keeping her from venturing too far away from their little group.  “Aren’t you the least bit interested in what’s been going on since you disappeared?”

 

Belle snorted, the sound masking the unease clenching her stomach.  It was never a good idea to play around with magic, especially when Regina was involved.  “I’ve spent the past decade trying to forget about Storybrooke, so no…I can’t say that I give a damn about what’s happened to it in my absence.”  She wanted Nicholas… _needed_ him with a burning passion.  She wanted the normalcy the ship had come to afford her and she especially needed to be back in her own body.  She could kick Jack for making her come down to be ambushed by her former friend, her almost step-son and the evil queen.  Rush was going to be inconsolable if she found herself trapped in McCormack’s body with no way to return to him.

 

Emma raked a hand through her hair and huffed out a long breath.  “Belle, come on.  We need your help, ok?  Just come back with us.  If you still want to go back up there…to the ship…er…whatever…we’ll bring you back.”

 

Considering how easily it was for Emma to detect lies, she could almost make her own believable.  “Thanks, but no.  There’s nothing left for me there and I don’t feel the need to go back, not even to see my father.”

 

“That’s the excuse you gave her?” Neal asked in an aside, shooting Emma a puzzled look.

 

“It doesn’t matter,” Regina shrugged. 

 

“Regina, no!” Emma cried, too late.  Belle dropped like a stone as she was enveloped in a midnight blue mist.  “There was no need for a sleeping spell.  What if someone had seen?” she asked, dropping next to the petite beauty sprawled on the pavement.  “Neal, help me with her.”

 

“No one saw and even if they had we could take care of the surveillance cameras.  Unlike you,” she sneered, getting her digs in for Emma’s carelessness at HWC.

 

“If I had disrupted the security cameras, her superiors never would have summoned her and we wouldn’t now have her to take back with us.”

 

While they argued, Neal lifted Belle’s limp form and settled her into the back seat of the bug.  “Do you think we could maybe argue on the road?  We’ve still got quite a drive back and the less you two are away from Storybrooke the better.”

 

Regina rolled her eyes and climbed into the backseat next to Belle.  “Fine.”

 

Emma rolled her eyes and climbed into the driver’s seat to slam the keys into the ignition.  “All I know is that this better work, Regina.  If you’re wrong and we’ve just kidnapped—“

 

“Oh stow it, Swan, and just drive,” she muttered, disgruntled by the two of them and the entire situation that had forced her to leave Storybrooke.  “The sooner we get back the better.  Remember…we still have to tell _him._ ”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

“Mom!” Henry smiled in surprise as he opened the door of the pink Victorian for Emma.  “Where’ve you been?  You’ve been gone for four days.”

 

“Yeah, yeah, I know.  I’m sorry, but things are a bit more complicated than I thought they’d be,” she grumbled, moving out of the way so Neal could carry Belle into the house, heading straight for the library.

 

“Is that her?” her son asked, his brows drawing together in a frown as he followed behind them.  “How can you be sure?”

 

“Where’s Grace?  I didn’t know you would be here today,” Regina asked, hugging him as he watched his father set his burden down on the sofa.

 

Henry smiled.  “She took Cara to the park this afternoon while I played chess with grandpa,” he replied, his eyes alight with love at the thought of his eighteen month old daughter and his wife of three years.

 

“Where _is_ your grandfather?” Regina asked, moving to stoke the dying fire. 

 

“He’s out in the garden with his roses.  It’s not really been a good day for him.”

 

Neal stood and rubbed his hands together in gleeful anticipation.  “Well, it’s about to get a whole lot better.”

 

“What is, Baelfire?” Gold asked from the open doorway.  “And who is that?” He pointed at the prone form lying on his sofa.

 

Baelfire grinned unrepentantly as he stepped aside.  “We found her.  Or rather, Emma did.”

 

He couldn’t mask the hope that washed over his face as he pushed past his son, only to have it replaced by pain and loss as he looked down on the girl who was clearly _not_ his lost love.  “That’s not Belle,” he hissed angrily, whirling on Emma and his son.  “I find your joke in poor taste, Baelfire.  Now get her out of my home.”

 

Emma stepped into his path as he turned to move away, laying a hand on his forearm.  “Come on, Gold, have a closer look.  Do you really think I would have resorted to kidnapping if I wasn’t absolutely sure?  She’s in there.”

 

“How?” he sneered.  “Not even I have attempted transference.”

 

“You don’t need to,” Regina huffed.  “You can glamour yourself into anyone you like.”

 

Neal picked up the file folder Emma had dropped onto the coffee table and held it out to his father.  “It’s all in here, papa.  All of Emma’s research.”  He tapped a finger against the folder.  “It’ll tell you everything you need to know.”

 

Gold glanced warily between his son and daughter-in-law and then sighed, taking the folder and moving closer to the fire.  He cast Regina a pointed look until she got the hint and heaved herself out of his favorite chair.  He sat down and opened the file, his gaze darkening as he swiftly read through Emma’s research.

 

His eyes narrowed dangerously on a photograph clipped to one of the pages.  “Who is this, Dr. Rush person?  He looks remarkably like me,” he murmured, continuing to read without glancing up at Emma. 

 

“Dr. Jackson said Belle works for him…his assistant or something.  She went to this planet with him before they got stranded on the spaceship,” Emma said, sitting down on the coffee table next to the sofa. 

 

“You didn’t damage his mind, I hope, when you retrieved the information you sought,” Gold said, reviewing several pages documenting Belle’s academic career and a copy of her recent doctorate degree.  A small smile twisted up one corner of his mouth.  He’d always known she was a brilliant little scholar, but her aptitude for numbers was astounding.

 

“No, he’s fine.  You have to admit, though, this stargate program is rather fascinating.  Imagine if we had something like that to enable us to travel between realms.  Then we wouldn’t need—“

 

“Emma,” Neal said, resting his hand on her shoulder.  They’d had the argument too many times between them.  She had no desire to travel back to the Enchanted Forest…ever, yet her son desired it more than anything.  Neal didn’t care one way or the other as long as his family remained intact. 

 

Henry’s cell phone rang and he left the library to answer it, promising to return shortly.  Regina paced restlessly before the hearth, the nails of her right hand clicking together in irritation.  “So what are we going to do with her?  She can’t very well stay like this.”

 

Gold snapped the file closed and set it on a side table before rising to his feet.  “We get her body back.  Between the three of us, we should be able to do it.”

 

“Are you sure, papa?” Neal asked, casting him a dubious look.  “Are any of us sure this is what Belle wants?”

 

“It doesn’t matter what she wants, Cassidy,” Regina snapped.  “We’ve talked ourselves blue in the face.  You know what’s at stake here.”

 

“But—“

 

Emma rose to her feet and rested her hand against her husband’s chest, her eyes pleading him not to argue with Regina.  “Neal, why don’t you call mom and check on Melanie, make sure she’s not driving her grandparents up the wall, hm?” she asked, knowing their six year old daughter could be a handful at times, even for someone as patient as Snow.

 

“Yeah, alright.”  He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her cheek, his expression saying he’d go along with whatever they planned, but that he wasn’t altogether happy about it.  His father’s true love should be given a choice to make her own decisions.  “Just yell if you need me.”

 

Emma turned on the others as the library door closed behind Neal.  “So what are we going to do?  Neal’s right.  Belle should be able to make her own choice.”

 

 _No one decides my fate but me._   The words reverberated softly in Gold’s mind as he thought back to the first time he’d seen his Belle, standing in the center of her father’s war room with that lummox of a fiancé trying to shield her from him.  _I’m sorry, sweetheart_ , he thought remorsefully.  _Not this time._

“We’re getting her back.”  He moved to stand at the end of the sofa next to Belle’s head, reaching down to rest his fingertips on either of her temples.  “I will ground her consciousness.  Regina, you are to focus on her physical body.  Emma you must project this body to where she is while Regina and I pull her here.  It should be simple enough.”

 

The two women nodded as they looked at Gold, noticing the darkness that seemed to exude from his pores.  They’d all grown stronger in their magic over the years Belle had been absent from their lives and now it seemed it was going to be tested to the very farthest of their abilities.  Gold’s dark magic, Emma’s light and Regina a combination of the two.  If they couldn’t pull it off, she doubted anyone could.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle felt as though she were floating on a wave of contentment, similar to what she experienced after an hour in bed with Nicholas.  She could vaguely make out the flickering of light behind her closed lids and she wondered if she had once again fallen asleep on the sofa on the observation deck.  She was distracted from that thought as she felt her love’s warm fingertips stroke her face delicately from temple to the smooth curve of her jaw. 

 

She leaned into his touch and yawned.  “Mmm, Nicholas, I was having the strangest dream,” she murmured sleepily, reaching for him where he knelt beside the sofa, his hand curled over her shoulder.  She pulled him down to her, smiling against his lips as he eagerly responded to her kiss.  She carded her fingers through his hair and her brow knit into a frown as she realized she needed to cut his hair again.  She’d just cut it, though, why would it be ready for a trim so soon?  Something else dawned slowly on her befuddled senses…he tasted of mint and tea and…maple syrup?  Her fingers smoothed over his cheek…no beard?

 

Her eyes flew open as his lips trailed away from hers to the pulse point beneath her jaw.  “Oh, Belle…”

 

She grabbed a handful of his hair and yanked sharply as she slipped out of his loose embrace.  Her gaze slid past him, taking in the familiar furnishings, the muted elegance of the room in which she’d spent so much time with… ”Rumpel?” she asked in a horrified whisper.  She released him and scooted further down the sofa as she stared at her former love.

 

Gold sat back on his heels, holding his hands out to her in supplication.  “Belle…” he said, his voice entreating her to listen.  “I can explain, dearest.  Or at least try to explain,” he added when she still stared at him aghast.

 

“You’re dead!  I watched you fucking die!” she shrieked, scrambling off the sofa and retreating behind it, placing it firmly between them.

 

Gold rose to his feet, but made no move to follow.  “Belle, I’m immortal.  You know that.”

 

Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she felt her panic rising.  “You. Were. Dead!  Your body was gone, Rum.  Poof!”

 

“It’s not as simple as that, Belle.”  He raked a hand through his hair in frustration.  “Would you please sit down and at least talk to me?  Let me explain.”  If she were reacting like this to his supposed resurrection, he could just imagine how she would act once she found out she was back in her own body.

 

Belle moved slowly around the sofa, eyeing him warily before choosing to sit in the armchair next to the fire.  She crossed her arms over her chest and arched a brow when he sat on the sofa yet still didn’t say anything.  “Well?” she prompted.  “Explain.”

 

He leaned forward and braced his forearms on his knees, rubbing his hands together as if trying to find a way to begin.  She was the only person in creation who had the ability to leave him tongue-tied.  Apparently some things never changed.  “After…ah…after Regina and Emma stopped the curse—“

 

“How?  Big rolling purple clouds of magic were rolling over the town when I crossed the barrier.  There was no stopping it.”

 

“There’s a counter to every curse, Belle.  Emma simply had to embrace her role as the savior.  The combination of white and dark magic, and some quick thinking on Henry’s part…” He waved a dismissive hand.  “The three of them share true love…that of a parent with their child, a child with his parent.  They were able to shield the town and the curse rolled over them harmlessly, dissipating when it reached the town borders and leaving Storybrooke unscathed.”

 

Belle nodded, not the least bit surprised that Henry had inherited his mother’s aptitude for magic.  “Alright, I’ll buy that.  It still doesn’t explain how you survived.”

 

“I’m getting to that,” he snapped.  He took a deep breath and tried to quell his anxiety.  Why had he thought it would be easy to tell her everything after all the time that had passed?  With a flick of his wrist, he conjured a tea tray.  “Tea, dearie?” he asked, hoping the steaming aromatic brew would put her in a more receptive mood.  It always had before.  He was grateful for something to do with his hands as he composed himself.  He didn’t want to explain the past ten years.  All he wanted was to haul her upstairs and lose himself in her and never let her go again.

 

She couldn’t help but smile at the tray, noticing there was even a small plate filled with her favorite chocolate scones.  He set the tea and a scone on the table next to her chair and backed away, seeing to his own cup.  He was jittery and anxious, she noticed, no matter how valiantly he tried to hide it. 

 

Finally, he heaved a weary sigh, his dark eyes tortured as they met hers.  “The dagger saved me.”

 

“I beg your pardon?  The bane of your existence _saved_ you?” she asked dryly.

 

“I’m tied to it because of the curse.  When I sacrificed myself, my curse had no idea how to handle it.  There’s never been a Dark One to make such a sacrifice before, but the demon cannot survive without its host.  It latched onto me and sucked me into the dagger with it, along with all my power.”

 

“Rum, the dagger disappeared when you did.  Where did it go?” she asked as she lowered her cup and stared down into the amber liquid.

 

“To my vault in the Enchanted Forest.  It—“

 

“Then how the hell are you here?” she snarled impatiently.

 

“If you’d stop interrupting, I might be able to tell you!”

 

She pursed her lips and gave him a pointed look, her displeasure obvious.  She wondered briefly if they’d ever have a conversation where they weren’t yelling at one another.  “I’m sorry, Rumpel, this isn’t exactly easy for me.”

 

“Like it was easy for me to come back and find you gone?” he countered, his eyes flashing with a mixture of anger and pain. 

 

“So, you were trapped,” she retorted icily.  “Who freed you?”

 

“It was Bae who figured it out.  The tricky part was obtaining the dagger.  Jefferson used the hat and brought him to our realm.  Because of the vault’s blood lock, Bae was the only person who had a chance of retrieving it.  When he returned, Emma was waiting with a spell to free me from the blade.”  He lifted his gaze to meet hers, trying to gauge her reaction only to be met with a blank stare.  “Why did you leave?”

 

Belle pressed her lips into a thin line as she tried to suppress the pain, cursing softly as the first of her tears spilled over her lashes.  “I had to,” she cried, a broken sob tearing from her throat as she pressed a hand to her lips.  “You were dead!  When Pan’s magic wore off, I collapsed in the street, Rumpel.  I felt as if I were dying too, and they abandoned me.  Not even your precious son offered me comfort!”

 

Gold moved to her side, kneeling at her feet so he could gather her in his arms, pulling her against his chest as she wailed in despair.  “I’m so sorry, my love,” he crooned, stroking his hand over her hair.  “I’m sorry I left you.  It was the only way to save you.”

 

Her hands fisted in his dress shirt as she pressed her face against the hollow of his throat.  “I needed you, Rumpel, and you were gone,” she wept, her words nearly incoherent as her body shook with great heaving sobs.  “I couldn’t stay here.  I had to get away…as far and as fast as possible.”

 

He pulled her out of the chair and onto his lap, his arms enveloping her as he buried his face in her hair, his eyes streaming from the pain she must have endured.  “Where did you go?  Emma began searching immediately after she and Regina brought me back.  Every time she got too close, you vanished.”

 

“I spent a few weeks in a hotel room near Boston, wishing you’d taken me with you, to be honest,” she said as she accepted the silk handkerchief he offered.  “Prayed for death a couple times, didn’t eat, sleep was an impossibility.  I was hoping when I left I would forget, but the pendant prevented even that small comfort.  Then I had to figure out what I was going to do with my life.”

 

His hand slipped into her hair, his nails scratching soothingly along her nape.  “What did you decide?  Is this when you went to California to…Berkley?” he asked, trying to remember the details he’d read in the file.

 

“No, I started out at UCLA, but I was afraid to stay in one place for too long.  I had this fear that someone from Storybrooke would eventually find me and drag me back. I know it’s a risk to be let loose on the world with what I know of magic.  Four colleges in four years, a tour of Europe, a semester at Cambridge, another at Oxford.  Then I flipped a coin and ended up at Berkeley.”  Her heart clenched as she thought of Rush.  “Oh gods!  I have to get back to HWC.  They’re going to be looking for me!”

 

Gold tightened his arms about her struggling form as she tried to move off his lap.  “Belle, you can’t go.”

 

“I have to!  Nicholas needs me.  Not to mention I’m in a borrowed body.  Alana’s eventually going to want it back, Rumpel.”

 

His jaw clenched at her mention of the scientist.  “You can’t go back, Belle…ever,” he said, staring down into her wide cerulean eyes.  He lifted her hand to his lips, her gaze following the action as he brushed a kiss to her fingertips… _her_ fingertips!  She ripped her hand out of his grasp and turned it over several times, staring in horror at her pale skin with the blue polish sparkling on her nails.  Chloe had just painted them yesterday, she thought hysterically as her gaze swung to Gold.

 

“What did you do?!” she cried in horror.

 

“It’s ok, sweetheart.  There’s no reason to panic.  We brought you home…all of you…your body included.  We exchanged your body for the borrowed one.  She’s safely on your ship and you’re here with me, where you belong,” he said calmly, stroking a long fingertip over her cheek as he regarded her steadily.

 

Belle pushed against his chest, wriggling off his lap.  “You have no idea what you’ve done!  How are we ever going to explain this?!  The government does not acknowledge the existence of magic, Rumpelstiltskin!”

 

“Belle, calm down—“

 

“Don’t you tell me to calm down!  You’ve stranded that poor woman on Destiny.  She doesn’t want to be there, I do!  It’s my home.”

 

Gold rose to his feet, his brow drawn in a dark frown.  “No.  _This_ is your home,” he insisted.  “It was a small price to pay to get you back.”

 

“Rum, I’m not the same person I was ten years ago.  My entire life is wrapped up in that ship.”

 

His eyes narrowed and she could feel the crackle of magic in the room as his temper neared its breaking point.  “Is it the ship, Belle, or something else?  Dr. Rush, perhaps?”

 

“Yes.  Rum…Rum I love him.  He saved me when I had no hope of ever loving again,” she whispered, turning away when she couldn’t bear the pain in his eyes any longer.

 

“You love _me_ , Belle,” he stated softly, his voice thick with emotion.  “We have true love.  That doesn’t just go away because we’re parted.”

 

“I _do_ love you, Rumpel.  I’ve always loved you.  Do you think just because I love Nicholas that I’ve stopped loving you?  My heart doesn’t work that way.  But I can’t just leave him.  He needs me.”  She brushed angrily at her tears before she turned to face him again.  “I’ve worked so hard to get where I am now, I can’t be here.  My life is on Destiny now.”

 

His features hardened as he met her gaze, his eyes chips of ice.  “It’s too late.  It was a one way trip, dearie.  ‘Fraid you’re stuck with me.”

 

“Rumpel—“

 

“I never should have let Emma talk me into bringing you back, but I couldn’t banish the hope I had that you’d still want me.  I was a fool.  She and Regina were so bent on finally breaking the last phase of the curse…”  He turned away from her and leaned an arm against the mantel over the hearth, staring down bitterly into the flames.

 

“What are you talking about?” she asked, moving to his side. 

 

“The last phase of the curse, dearie, the final piece that will take us all home to the Enchanted Forest.  I’m the last holdout, the only person in Storybrooke who hasn’t received their happy ending,” he scoffed, his mouth twisting into a wry smirk.  He turned to her, his arm snaking out to wrap around her waist.  “I need you, Belle.  _You_ are my happy ending.”

 

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders as he buried his face in her neck.  “Oh, Rum…” she choked out as she stroked his hair in an effort to soothe him.  It was killing her to see him so tormented.  She hadn’t been lying.  As much as she loved Nicholas, she loved Gold just as much.

 

“I need you, Belle, so much,” he wept, his tears splashing against her collarbone.  “Please, Belle.  Stay with me.  Let me take you home…our real home…the one we weren’t able to have before in the Dark Castle.  I know I can make you happy this time.”

 

“Rumpelstiltskin,” she scolded.  “You made me happy last time until you got some insane notion in that thick skull of yours to send me away.  But I can’t just forget everything that’s happened since then.  I have people who depend on me, people I love that I can’t just abandon.  Besides, the curse won’t break unless I have my happy ending too, right?”

 

He shook his head as he raised it to meet her gaze.  “You left, sweetheart.  The charm I placed on the pendant not only preserved your memories and protected you, but it severed you from the curse.  My happy ending is the only thing holding us all here.”  He pressed his brow to hers as he cupped her face in his warm palms.  “I can’t have that without you.  Please, Belle.  It’s our chance for a new beginning.  I love you so much.”

 

“Rum, I can’t just forget—“

 

“Yes, you can.”  He reached into his pocket and removed a dark blue vial, the potion swirling brightly behind the murky glass.  “With this, I can take your memories, sweetheart.  I can take you back to the day I rid us of Pan.  You won’t remember anything that happened after that day.  You can love me again and we can go home.  Or you can refuse and keep your memories.  We’ll just remain here in Storybrooke.”  There was always a chance true love’s kiss wouldn’t work if she loved another just as much as him.  He pressed the vial into her hand.  “There’s no going back to Destiny, Belle.  It’s your choice, however, as to whether you want to spend forever with me here or in the Enchanted Forest. It’s your choice whether you choose to go back to when you loved me – _only_ me - or preserve your memories of your new life.”

 

Belle looked down at the potion in her hand.  She could toss it into the fire and cling to her memories of Nicholas, to mourn his loss as she had Gold’s, to yearn for his touch, his love…or she could drink the potion and forget the past ten years, forget the pain of losing Gold and begin a new life with him.  A life filled with happiness and children and love.  It would be as if he’d never died, as if she’d never left his side.  They could be happy…

 

She couldn’t raise her eyes to see the expectant look on his face.  She knew what she had to do and it was ripping her heart to shreds.  Tears coursed down her face and she bit violently at her lip to stop the sobs that rose in her throat from bursting past her lips.  _I’m so sorry, Nicholas.  I love you so much.  Please let him know how much I love him,_ she thought, saying one last goodbye to him even if only in her mind.  She could practically feel the hope and happiness radiating from Gold as she removed the cork from the vial and raised it to her lips, swallowing the potion in one long gulp, the blue swirl of magic engulfing her and leaving her dizzy.

 

Gold caught her as she stumbled, her gaze dazed and unfocused.  “Belle?  Sweetheart, are you alright?” he asked, drawing her protectively against his chest.

 

“Mhmm,” she hummed, pressing a kiss to the hollow of his throat.  “What are we doing here?  I thought we were going to meet Emma at Regina’s vault.”

 

Gold closed his eyes as he held her tightly, smiling in relief as the potion stole away her memories, leaving nothing but their love in their place.  “All taken care of.”

 

“Pan?”

 

“Gone,” he confirmed, trailing light kisses over her face.  “Gone forever.”  His lips brushed over hers and she hummed happily in response.  One kiss.  One kiss and they could go home.  One kiss and they’d be happy…forever.  “I love you, Belle,” he murmured softly against her lips.

 

“I love you too, Rum.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

TJ wiped a hand over her brow and leaned against the cabinet at her back, careful of the latex gloves on her hands.  She stared down at Airman Dunning, a worried frown pulling at her lips.  “Has he said anything else, Lisa?”

 

“No,” Dr. Park said, shaking her head.  “Brody helped me strap him down though, he was thrashing about so much.  What do you think is wrong with him?  Or Volker?”

 

“I don’t know.  I can’t find anything physically wrong with them.”  She looked at her two patients both in a near coma from who knew what.  They’d simply collapsed.  She didn’t know what to do for them.  Dunning had been brought in first, screaming about snakes and Volker shortly after, pleading not to be buried alive. 

 

Greer carried another into the infirmary and TJ gasped.  “Not Vanessa too!”

 

“I found her in the armory, checking her weapons in after her trip offworld.  She was screaming, all curled in on herself,” Greer said, laying Vanessa down gently on a gurney.

 

TJ was quick with her examination, and again came up empty-handed.  She pushed against the lieutenant’s shoulders to hold her down as she cried out.  “I didn’t mean to kill him.  It was an accident.  I didn’t mean to.”  Everett rushed to her side as he came into the infirmary, having been alerted to the epidemic by several concerned members of the crew.

 

“It’s alright, lieutenant,” he said, soothingly.  “We know you didn’t mean it.” He shrugged when TJ cast him a questioning look.  “Tamara, have you found anything?  Is this something we need to worry is going to spread?”

 

“I don’t know yet.  I need to run some tests.”

 

“Could it have been something they picked up on the planet?” he asked, moving with her over to her desk.  He frowned as he took in the three patients.  “They were all members of the away team.  Maybe it’s some pathogen? Parasite?”

 

TJ grabbed her kit and dug through it in search of another pair of gloves, tossing them to the colonel.  “Only one way to find out.  Let’s check for parasites before hauling out the big guns to search for something internal.”

 

Everett pulled the gloves on and started on Dunning’s right side, TJ on the left as they searched every bit of bared skin for any signs of a parasite.  “Has anyone else been brought in who wasn’t on the team?”

 

“No,” she shook her head as he lifted Dunning up so she could check the back of his head, “but I think it would be a good idea to get everyone who went down to the planet up here to the infirmary immediately.”

 

Park moved to help TJ as Young removed the radio from his belt.  “Rush, this is Young.  Rush, come in.  Rush!”  He cursed beneath his breath.

 

“I hope you’re going to curb that habit once our baby is born,” TJ snarked, a grin playing on his lips.

 

He huffed a short bark of laughter.  “I promise.  So Rush isn’t answering his radio…big surprise.”  He lifted the radio again.  “Dr. French, this is Young, come in.”  Nothing.  He thought quickly trying to remember who had gone offworld.  Scott, Chloe, and Barnes…all unaccounted for.  “Greer. Grab a detail and round up the remainder of the away team.  Rush and French aren’t answering their radios.  Check the control room, hydroponics, and their quarters first.”

 

“Yes, sir.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

“Strap him down!” Greer barked, fingering his swelling eye as two of his men dragged a violent Rush into the infirmary. 

 

Young arched a brow at the master sergeant as the two marines secured Rush to a gurney.  “What happened to you? Walk into a wall?”

 

“Hardly,” he smirked.  “The old bastard got the drop on me.”

 

“Where did you find him?” the colonel asked as Lisa began to examine the doctor. 

 

“Control room on the floor next to his console.  He was twitching pretty badly.  I only touched his arm to check him and bam!” Greer admitted ruefully.

 

Everett chuckled, knowing it had to rub the man raw that Rush had given him what would be a lovely black eye.  “I’ll see to it you get an extra portion of the cobbler stuff Becker’s whipping up for dessert.  And Belle?  She’s the only one unaccounted for.”

 

Scott and Chloe had been found on the observation deck in pretty much the same condition, though not quite as violent as Nicholas.  “Rivers and Rennie are checking her quarters.  She wasn’t in hydroponics or any of her usual haunts,” Greer said, taking an ice pack TJ offered him and laying it over his eye to combat the swelling.

 

“We got her!” Rennie called out as he came into the infirmary bearing an unconscious Belle.  She was unresponsive, though the tear stains on her face attested to her own internal struggle like the rest of them had been experiencing.  The airman laid her on the gurney to Rush’s left and cast his worried gaze to the colonel.  “Sir, is she going to be alright?”  He had a soft spot for the little brunette – as many of the crew did – and the concern evident in his gaze was shared by his companion.

 

“She’s going to be fine.  You two, do a random check.  I’ve confined everyone to quarters until this is over.  Do a door to door and make sure no one else is suffering any ill effects.  Go!” Young ordered.  He didn’t need anyone else in the infirmary getting in the way.

 

“Everett, come here,” TJ called to him.  “I think I found something.”

 

Young moved over to Belle’s bedside.  “You had to start with her?” he asked incredulously

 

“Would you rather us wake Rush up first – if I’m right – and have him hovering and cursing and threatening everyone?  If we can remove the parasite successfully from Belle first, she can help us with him,” she reasoned.  She turned the light up a notch from where she’d set it beside the gurney and held a magnifying glass towards the nape of Belle’s neck.  “It’s difficult to see, which is why I missed it on my initial examination. You see right there?”

 

Young squinted at the tiny black bug attached to the back of her neck, just beneath the hairline.  “Mhmm, yeah.  Looks like a tick.”

 

“Yeah.  I just checked the others; they all have one, same spot – top of the neck there,” TJ confirmed.  “I don’t know for sure, but I think this is what’s causing the comas.  I’m thinking they probably inject a venom or some sort of toxin that affects the brain’s chemistry, bringing their worst fears to life.  From what I can tell, Volker is afraid of being buried alive, Dunning is deathly afraid of snakes, Vanessa’s afraid she’s killed someone, Scott is seeing himself as a failure for not being there for his son, Chloe is blaming herself for her father’s death and Rush is running from the blue aliens.”

 

“And Dr. French?” Everett asked as he stared down at the petite woman on the gurney.

 

“She’s the only one who hasn’t been screaming.  There’s no telling what’s going on in her head.  What would Belle have to be frightened of?  I’ve never met anyone like her.  The only thing she’s said is Rush’s name,” TJ said, clearly puzzled.

 

“Can you remove it?”

 

TJ shrugged, reaching for a pair of tweezers.  “They seem similar to Earth ticks.  I could try and remove it the same way.”  She lifted the magnifying glass and the tweezers, leaning close to the back of Belle’s head and gently took hold of the exposed end of the tick.  Belle’s whole body jerked, her back bowing up off the gurney as she struggled for breath.

 

Everett gripped her shoulders as she started to convulse.  “What’s happening?”

 

“I don’t know!  She’s crashing.  We need to start CPR,” TJ said, grabbing the airbag from the tray on the table while Young began compressions.  She removed the bag and leaned in closer to Belle’s mouth, listening for breath sounds as Young continued to pump at her chest.  Finally, Belle drew in a weak breath and relaxed against the bed.

 

“She’s breathing, Everett, stop.”  She put the airbag down and put her fingers to the pulse point throbbing weakly in her throat.  “She’s back.”

 

“Alright, we’ve got to get it out of her,” Young said, rolling her onto her side so TJ could see what she was doing. 

 

TJ groaned as she got a closer look.  Even less of the tick was visible above her skin.  “It’s dug in even deeper.”

  
X*X*X*X*X

 

TJ wrapped her stethoscope around her neck and set aside the blood pressure cuff.  “Her pulse is normal and BP’s back in range.”

 

“And removing the thing is impossible?”

 

“No,” the medic sighed wearily, rubbing at the near constant pain in her back.  “It's just that when I tried to pull it off, it must have released more toxin. I just have to figure out another way.”

 

Young left her and Park alone to check on the team he’d sent door to door to check on the rest of the crew. 

  
X*X*X*X*X

 

“Colonel,” TJ called as he came back into the infirmary sometime later.

 

“Hey, what’ve you got?” he asked, making his way to her side.

 

TJ gave a weary sigh.  “The venom we extracted from the jungle planet creature – it worked as an anesthetic on Rush during his surgery. I _think_ that if I apply it topically to the tick …”

 

“Knock it out and give you time to remove it.”

 

“Worth a shot,” she murmured, fatigue already beginning to wear on her.

“Tamara,” he whispered gently as his hand slipped around her to knead the tight muscles at the small of her back.  “Why don’t you go back to our quarters and lie down for a while.  Park and I can work on the tick removal.”

 

“I’m fine, Everett,” she said, leaning into his touch.  “I need to be here.”

 

“You’re suffering.  You need to rest,” he protested.  “I’m worried about you.”

 

“I’ll be fine.  As soon as we get this done and everyone’s back to normal, I promise I’ll rest.”

 

“Alright, let’s get to work.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle’s eyes fluttered open.  They felt like someone had taken sandpaper to them and her head ached as if Thor’s mighty hammer were chipping away at her brain matter.   She groaned, trying to lift her hand to press to her temples only to find it clasped tightly in both of his.  “Belle…” Rush whispered softly, brushing the hair away from her face as he leaned in to kiss her.  “How are you feeling, love?”

 

“Wh-What happened?” she asked, still groggy from whatever had been done to her.  His beloved face swam in and out of focus as he helped her sit up on the gurney.  “What’s wrong with me?”

 

He lifted her hand and pressed a kiss to her fingertips.  “From what Lt Johansen has been able to tell us, we apparently picked up a bug on the planet.  It injected us with some sort of toxin which put us into a coma and forced us to live out our worst nightmares.”

 

Belle’s eyes filled with tears, her lower lip trembling as she reached out to cradle his face in her hands.  “It was all a d-dream?  You’re here?” she asked tremulously.  She pulled him down to her, burying her face in his neck as she wept tears of relief.

 

Nicholas held her tightly, feeling she needed the support and comfort if her grip on him was any indication.  “Shh, _mo stór_ , I’m here.  It’s alright.  It was just a nightmare.”

 

She cried harder.  “No, they t-took me away from you.  I c-couldn’t get back to you, N-Nicholas.”  Her whole body shook with tremors as she sobbed in his arms.  “E-Everything I’ve been running from for the l-last decade—“

 

He lifted her in his arms and carried her from the infirmary, glaring at TJ as she opened her mouth to forestall their departure.  Belle didn’t need her medical services any longer.  She just needed him.  He murmured soothing nonsense to her all the way to their quarters where he locked the door behind them and laid her gently on their bed, following after her. 

 

“Belle, love, it was just a dream.  No one is going to take you from me,” he assured her.  Yet, still she continued to weep.  He didn’t know how long he lay there with her, secure in his embrace, before her sobs faded away into little hiccups and she relaxed her grip on him.  “Tell me what I can do, _mo chroí_ , to help you,” he whispered, his lips ghosting over her temple.

 

Belle bit her lip to still its trembling as her heart clenched with fear and pain.  Unimaginable pain.  Gold was alive, had held her in his arms.  It couldn’t have been a dream.  He’d felt just as real to her as Rush did now.  “I need… _we_ need to use the stones.  As soon as you can arrange it.”  She looked up at him with watery eyes, her face stained with the tracks of her tears.  “Please, Nicholas.  I have to be certain.”

 

“Belle—“

 

“Please, Nicholas.  I have to be sure.  I know you hate to visit Earth…so do I, but I have to do this and I need you to be with me when I do.”

 

Unable to bear the despair and pain in her gaze, he reached for the radio clipped to his belt.  “Colonel Young, this is Rush,” he said, his voice hoarse with emotion.  It was tearing him up inside to see his Belle so distraught.

 

“Go ahead, Rush.  And why did you leave the infirmary?  You need to come back and let TJ examine you and Dr. French,” the man barked irritably.

 

Rush bit back a retort and pressed the com button.  “Colonel, Belle and I need to use the stones.  Do you think you could arrange that?” he asked.

 

“What?!  You just woke up from a coma, man!  Why would you need to use—“

 

Nicholas cut him off.  “Colonel, it is merely a courtesy asking your permission, you understand.”

 

Young was silent for a full minute before he sighed.  “Fine.  How soon do you need to—“

 

“An hour at most.  And I can’t guarantee how long we’ll be.  I wouldn’t ask if it weren’t important.”

 

“An hour.”

 

Belle drew in a shaky breath as she nestled into Rush’s chest and curled her arm over his waist.  “Thank you, darling.”

 

He set the radio aside and wrapped himself around her, cocooning her in his embrace.  “Anything for you, my Belle.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Rush tried to focus on the road, but couldn’t seem to stop himself from casting furtive glances over at Belle as she sat silently in the passenger seat of their borrowed SUV.  Daniel had volunteered to switch with him again, but Mehta hadn’t been available to Belle.  Instead she was currently inhabiting the body of a petite UASF major named Lexie Rinaldo.  She was a petite blonde with blue eyes and a warm smile, but she couldn’t compare to his Belle.  Major Peterson sat in the back, having insisted on accompanying them out of state.  Several states, in fact, he thought as the Maine highway flew past.

 

She had said little once they’d completed the transfer to Earth.  It just wasn’t like her not to be bubbling with energy and talking non-stop.  She was never silent and it had him more concerned than he was willing to admit.

 

“Slow down, Nicholas.  You need to turn right at the fork ahead.  It should take us straight into Storybrooke,” she said softly, her voice flat and devoid of emotion.  He knew her iron will was the only thing driving her right now.  The need for answers could be a powerful motivation.

 

“I’ve never heard of Storybrooke, Maine, Dr. French,” Peterson remarked casually from the backseat.  “And it’s not on the map.”

 

“It was a very close knit community,” she murmured.  There was a distinct possibility it wasn’t even there.  She fought back a fresh wave of tears as the sign at the town line came into view, panic steadily rising in her chest.

 

Rush reached over and covered her hand with his, giving it a gentle squeeze.  “We don’t have to do this, Belle.  Just say the word and I’ll turn the car around right now.”

 

She turned her watery eyes to him and tried to smile, though it came out as more of a grimace.  “No.  I need to do this.  I’ve been running for too long.”

 

She sucked in a deep breath as they crossed the town line.  She could practically smell the magic in the air, that familiar hint of ozone that always surrounded Rumpelstiltskin.  The town was still there.  The thought had her wrapping her arms about her middle, almost as if she were trying to keep herself intact.  The quaint little homes, the sheriff station, the diner.  They were all there without a hint that a curse had created it.  She was sure it looked to Rush just like any other small town in America.

 

“Pull over there, Nicholas,” she said, pointing to an empty spot on the street outside of the diner.  “I’m sure you and the major will want something for breakfast.  I’m sorry for making you drive out here so early.”

 

Rush pulled into the space and killed the car, turning to her and dragging her into his arms, his voice soft in her ear.  “I would do anything for you, Belle.  I hope you know that.”  He smoothed his fingers along her cheek.  “It will be fine.  I won’t leave you for a moment.”

 

“I know,” she sighed.  She pulled out of his embrace.  “After breakfast, Major, I’d like for Nicholas and I to have some time to ourselves if you don’t mind.  I promise to keep in contact with you periodically.”

 

The major nodded in agreement and got out of the car, opening the door for her.  She shivered as she stepped out into the brisk autumn morning, fighting back a wave of nostalgia for the last time she’d walked these streets with her love, her hand clasped in his.  Her hand slipped easily into Rush’s as he led her up the walkway and into the diner.  Silence greeted them, a hush falling over the diners as they made their way to an empty booth.

 

Nicholas wrapped his arm about her shoulders and pulled her close as he followed her into the booth, Peterson taking the other side.  “Are you alright?”

 

“Fine,” she said through clenched teeth as her eyes scanned the diners.  “Don’t let them bother you.  They aren’t used to strangers.”

 

She even managed a smile for Ruby when she finally came to the table with some menus.  “Hi, welcome to Granny’s.  Can I get you guys something to drink?”

 

Belle smiled over at Nicholas.  “Coffee black, double shot expresso, Venti, please and Earl Grey tea for me.”  Peterson ordered a black coffee minus the expresso.  Rush was practically drooling over the thought of rich black Columbian coffee.  Ruby smiled, casting them a curious glance before rushing off to fill their orders.  She returned shortly and Nicholas didn’t hesitate to lift the cup to his lips, his eyes closing in pleasure.

 

Ruby held her pad and pen at the ready as the men made their final decisions on what to have.  Peterson chose a western omelet with toast while Rush ordered two eggs over easy, bacon and an English muffin.  Belle smirked at Rush and ordered a basket of chili cheese fries with jalapeno slices.  Ruby gaped at her and dropped her pen.

 

“Something wrong, miss?” Rush asked, frowning at the waitress.

 

“N-No,” she said, waving a dismissive hand as she retrieved her pen and scribbled the order on her pad.  “I just had a friend once who used to order … y’know, nevermind.  Just reminded me of her I guess.  I’ll have this right out to you.”

 

“Just couldn’t resist, could you?” Rush asked, his warm breath caressing her ear.  “Did you know her well?”

 

“She was my best friend,” Belle smiled a little wistfully.  She turned to whisper mischievously in his ear.  “She’s also a werewolf.”

 

Rush turned startled eyes on her as he choked on his coffee and reached for a napkin from the dispenser.  She stifled a giggle and turned back to the occupants of the diner, searching out familiar faces.  Leroy sat at the counter with a little boy that favored him, his little overalls and plaid shirt rather cute on his small form.  It made her wonder if he’d finally won the hand of his true love.  Astrid was a flighty little fairy, but she was sweet and she couldn’t help but hope that they’d found happiness.  The bell on the door rang, signaling a new customer and Belle looked over to see Dr. Archie Hopper enter with a set of twin girls who ran over to Ruby and throw their arms about her waist with a shout of ‘Mommy!’  Granny came out of the back room and shooed them from behind the counter with a fond grumble for the pair.

 

Ruby came over and served their breakfast, but Belle only managed a few bites, her nerves twisting and churning her stomach to the point where it didn’t want to hold any food.  It only grew worse when the door opened again and Emma Swan came in, greeting Ruby and Archie before her eyes were drawn to Belle and her companions in the corner booth.  She wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to learn Ruby had called her to tell the sheriff about the strangers in town.  As long as she didn’t run into Regina, she’d be fine.

 

Emma smiled warmly as she sauntered over to the table.  “Hi, I’m Emma Swan, the sheriff.  What brings you to Storybrooke?”

 

Belle regarded her coolly, returning her smile.  “Just passing through.  We had business in the area, took a wrong turn and saw the diner.  Thought it would be as good a place as any to grab a bite to eat.”  She had to force back a laugh as Emma’s eyes narrowed on her, searching for the lie, confused when she didn’t.

 

The tall blonde seemed to accept her answer when her ability to detect lies helped to ease her suspicions.  “Well, enjoy your stay.  Let me know if there’s anything I can do for you.”

 

Belle ordered another coffee for Rush as Peterson paid their tab, breathing deeply to calm her rattled nerves once they left the diner.  Peterson retreated to the SUV and the laptop he’d brought with him, planning to use it to pass the time while he waited for them.  Rush’s arm slipped about her waist as she pointed out the direction she wanted to go. 

 

“Where to next?” he asked, sipping gingerly at the brew in his to-go cup.

 

She stiffened, squaring her shoulders with determination and strengthening her resolve.  “The pawn shop.  I have to go there.  If I don’t, I’ll never be able to put this part of my life behind me.”

 

He brushed a kiss to her temple.  “As you wish, love.  Can I ask what that remark was all about back there in the diner about the waitress?” he asked, patting himself on the back for restraining himself as long as he had.

 

Belle laughed, the first time since before she’d woken up in the infirmary.  “Remember my past? Or what you saw of it in my memories?”

 

“Yes.  How could I forget Rumpelsnarkskin,” he quipped.

 

“Hahaha, Nicholas,” she murmured dryly.  “Well, we’re not the only fairy tale characters to have come over with the curse.  “Our waitress…Little Red Riding Hood.  The man who came in with the twin girls was Jiminy Cricket and the man at the counter with the sweet little boy?  That was Grumpy.”

 

“Wait, as in the seven dwarves, Grumpy?” he asked incredulously, his mouth gaping.  He was still finding it difficult to wrap his analytical mind about her fairy tale past.

 

“Yup.”

 

“And the sheriff?”

 

“Snow White and Prince Charming’s daughter.”  Her eyes sparkled with deviltry as she stopped in front of the door leading into the pawn shop that still bore Gold’s name on the sign, feeling her smile slip to be replaced with a sense of dread.   They’d spent so much time there together.  Nothing like the pink Victorian or the library, but here was where his treasures were stored, a story woven in each piece.  How could she walk into his world and not see him standing behind the counter or in the back room tinkering away on some piece of their history together.

 

Rush paused with his hand on the doorknob, watching her warily.  “Belle we don’t have to go in if you’d rather not.”

 

“I know, but this is one of the reasons I made you bring me all the way out here.  I _have_ to do this.”

 

The bell over the door chimed and she felt her heart clench, the familiar sound reverberating all along her spine.  The shutters were open, light filtering through the slats and shining onto the display cases.  She could feel her hands shake with trepidation, her stomach protesting the greasy breakfast she’d consumed.  She slipped her hand into Rush’s, squeezing tightly as their fingers twined.

 

“I’ll be out in a moment,” a deep voice sounded from the back room.  She breathed out a deep breath as she realized it wasn’t the voice she’d been expecting.  A moment later, a young familiar face poked his head through the curtain, stealing away her breath.  “Hi, welcome to Gold’s, can I help you?”

 

“H-Henry?” she stuttered, taking in the suit and tie he wore.  His youthful face having evened out into lines that reminded her of his grandfather, but his smile was all Neal.

 

“Do I know you?” he asked, cocking his head to the side as his brow furrowed.

 

Rush gave her hand a warning squeeze as he moved to the counter.  “No, we’re just passing through, lad.  I was wondering if you could tell me about that book you have in the window?  My wife here has a thing for books.  Especially rare volumes.”

 

Henry shook his head as if to clear it and led them over to the window.  “I’m sorry, that book’s not for sale, but I could show it to you if you like,” he said retrieving it from the front window and laying it out on the display case.  “It’s rather rare, one of a kind actually, but it’s a family heirloom and I can’t seem to bring myself to part with it.  I just use it for window decoration to draw in customers who might be interested in other volumes I have here.”

 

Belle’s hands reverently caressed the storybook, her fingers tracing over the words in gold gilt lettering across the cover.  Her hands trembled as she flipped through the pages until she found her own story, tears springing to her eyes as she took in Rumpelstiltskin’s face shadowed in profile.  Her finger traced lovingly over his image as she swallowed around the lump in her throat.

 

“That’s one of my favorite stories,” Henry said softly, studying her curiously.

 

“Mine as well,” she whispered softly, unable to take her eyes from the page.

 

Rush cleared his throat, drawing the man’s attention away from Belle.  “This is a rather nice place you have here.”

 

“Thanks,” Henry smiled, always pleased by the praise to the family business.  “It was my grandpa’s shop.  When he passed away it went to my father.  Dad would rather play deputy and spend his time working with my mom.  She’s the sheriff.  So when I was old enough, he passed it on to me.”

 

“Your grandpa was Mr. Gold?” Rush asked, carefully eyeing the boy.

 

“Yeah, he was.  He…um…he died about ten years ago,” Henry murmured, pulling absently at his collar.  “He was a good man.  Not everyone thought so, but to me he was.”

 

“He must have loved you very much,” Belle mumbled, swiping surreptitiously at her tears.  She cast a watery smile his way as she closed the book.  “Thank you so much for your time.”  She beat a hasty retreat to the door, leaving Rush behind to explain her abrupt departure.  She couldn’t do it.  She couldn’t stand there and talk to Henry about Gold without completely losing her composure.  It offered her small comfort that the boy had been able to see so clearly behind the mask Gold had perfected over the years.

 

Belle leaned against the building, tears flowing unchecked down her face as she looked across the street at the library.  She laughed hysterically as she wondered who might have taken over its upkeep after she’d left.  It had been a gift from her love and she’d abandoned it just as she’d abandoned the town…as they’d abandoned her.  She barely noticed when Nicholas exited the pawnshop and took her in his arms.

 

“Belle, what is it?  Are you alright?” he whispered, tucking her head beneath his chin as she fought to pull herself together.  It didn’t make her feel any better to hear an unwelcome voice sound behind her.

 

“Hey, are you ok?” Emma asked, staring at Rush over Belle’s shoulder.

 

“Yeah, she’s fine, thanks.”

 

“Is there anything I can do?”

 

“No, thank you,” Belle said, straightening and wiping away her tears on the back of her sleeve.  “If you’ll excuse us.”  She didn’t give Emma a chance to answer, taking Rush’s arm and leading him down the street to her last stop.

 

Henry stepped out on the sidewalk, staring after the pair of strangers.  “What’s up, mom?”

 

“I don’t know, Henry, but my Spidey senses are tingling and not in a good way.  Did they seem a bit strange to you?” she asked, watching the pair cross the street in the direction of the flower shop.  Her eyes narrowed as she saw them go into _Game of Thorns_.  “What do you suppose they’d want with flowers if they’re just passing through?”

 

“They seemed nice.  The man was interested in the _Once Upon a Time_ book for his wife, but I told him it wasn’t for sale.  She seemed a bit upset while she was looking through it.”

 

Emma cut her eyes at him, curious.  “Did she seem interested in a particular story, or did she just flip through it?”

 

Henry frowned.  “Mom, what are you thinking?”

 

“Just answer the question,” she said, screwing her face up in exasperation. “Humor your mother.”

 

He chuckled.  “Actually she was interested in _Beauty and the Beast_.  You know grandpa’s story.”  He thought for a moment.  “And her husband asked about him.”

 

“Who the beast?”

 

“No, mom, grandpa.”

 

Emma arched a brow as her intuition poked her with a pointy stick.  She groaned inwardly as she leaned up to kiss her son on the cheek.  “I’ll see you later.  Don’t forget you and Grace are having dinner with us tonight.”

 

He said goodbye to her, but she barely heard him as she set off towards the flower shop.  Something wasn’t right about that woman and she intended to find out what it was.  The clues were right there, staring her in the face, but she didn’t know of any magic that could possibly change someone that much.  And plastic surgery could change certain things, but not height, or the timbre of someone’s voice.  She’d bet her next bear claw the woman was more than she seemed.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Rush pulled Belle along behind him into the flower shop and into a secluded corner, disappearing amongst the lilies and roses and jonquils set out in a vibrant display, happy the florist was busy with a customer.  She was nearly hyperventilating again and he was tired of all the cloak and dagger bullshit.  “Bel-“

 

Her hand clamped over his mouth.  “SHH!” she hissed in warning, her eyes wide with alarm.  “Don’t use my real name.  Emma I’m sure, is already suspicious.”

 

“You’ve got to give me something, love.  How am I supposed to protect you if I don’t know what the hell is going on!” he growled in an angry whisper.  “Why are you so afraid?  I know this has something to do with what you experienced in your coma, but I don’t like being kept in the dark.”

 

“I promise to tell you everything, just…Nicholas, please, just trust me?” she asked, her eyes wide and pleading with him to understand, to put his trust in her.

 

Rush sighed, finally nodding.  The tension eased from her shoulders and she raised up on her toes to press her lips to his, ignoring the fact that he was presently in Daniel’s body.  She paled, however, when she stepped away from him and saw who was at the counter. 

 

Nicholas bumped into her as she stopped mid-step on her way to the front of the shop.  “What is it?”

 

She pointed silently and pulled him behind a display of geraniums.  “Snow White and—“

 

“Let me guess…the Evil Queen?” he snarked.  His mouth gaped when she nodded.  “The same one who locked you up?” he asked, his teeth gnashing together as she nodded again.  This was what he got for falling in love with a fictional character, he thought bemusedly.  “And the man behind the counter?” He was almost afraid of the answer.

 

“My father.”

 

“Wonderful.  Just grand, love.”  He linked his fingers with hers and pulled her towards the front of the shop, ready to be done with this errand.  Thankfully, he wasn’t in his own body, wasn’t her potential fiancé – though he was determined to revisit that thought later – and didn’t have to worry about making a good impression.  He caught just the tail end of the ladies conversation – something about arrangements for the fall festival the woman with the pixie cut was chairing – and more for the town hall.  Whatever it was all about, it seemed to bring a smile to his Belle’s lips and for that he was grateful.

 

Regina glanced curiously at Rush, her gaze seeming to dismiss Belle as she handed the florist a check.  “Thank you, Mr. French.  I’ll be expecting those arrangement no later than Tuesday,” she murmured distractedly as she smiled at Rush.  “Hello, I don’t believe I’ve seen you in town before.  I’m Regina Mills, Mayor of Storybrooke.”

 

He arched a brow, his dark eyes searing a hole through the hand she offered until she withdrew it.  “How nice for you—“

 

“Please ignore my husband,” Belle interjected, toying with the hem of her dress uniform jacket as she elbowed Rush in the ribs.  “He’s a bit out of sorts.  We took a detour and wound up here instead of the bed and breakfast he’d booked several towns over.”

 

Regina’s dark gaze reminded Rush of a viper eyeing a juicy mouse, but he held his silence, offering her a tight smile.  “Well,” she finally said.  “I hope you enjoy your _visit_.”

 

The relief was evident on her face as she watched Snow and Regina leave the shop, glad to be rid of them.  Moe French smiled kindly at her as she stepped up to the counter and she forgot to speak, her memories reminding her of a better time before her relationship with Rumpelstiltskin had made him bitter and angry, before he’d rejected her, before he’d tried to destroy her mind by sending her across the town line in a mine cart.  She forgot all of that as she stared up into his pale blue eyes.  Right now he was her papa, her beloved father who had been there for every important milestone in her life, the same man who had comforted and nurtured her after the death of her mother and she needed him more than air.

 

“Hello, miss, how may I help you today?” he asked, his voice warm and sad at the same time.  It made her wonder how much time he’d spent being sad after she’d run from Storybrooke.

 

“Magic is green,” she found herself saying before she could stop herself, her lower lip quivering as her voice trembled and tears pooled in her eyes.  “Little fairies sing…”

 

“And the peonies bloom for my Belle in the spring…”  He finished, his deep voice trailing off into a gasp as he stared wide-eyed at the strange girl in his shop.  “How…”

 

Rush wanted to kick something – really hard – as he watched the tears trek down her face and drip from her chin.

 

“My little daughter, my Belle, she used to say that when she was a child.”  He hurried around the counter and grasped her upper arms as he loomed over her.  “Do you know her?  Do you know where she is?”

 

Rush rolled his eyes as she shot him a pleading look and gestured for her to go ahead.  She’d already stuck her foot in it, she might as well get muddy.

 

She shook off her father’s hands and clasped them tightly in hers.  “I had to see you while I was here, papa,” she said softly, her eyes begging him to believe and trust in her.  “It’s me…Belle.”

 

Maurice’s eyes searched her face, searching for any trace of his daughter in the stranger before him.  He knew he would be able to clear up any confusion as to her identity with one question.  His eyes flickered furtively over to her companion, who seemed nothing but concerned for the little blonde in military dress.  “Who took my Belle from me?”

 

Her lip trembled as she smiled up at him.  “My true love…Rumpelstiltskin.”

 

He dropped her hands and hurried to the door, throwing the lock and flipping the sign to _closed_.  He even pulled the shade to keep onlookers from peering through the window. An outsider wouldn’t have known the answer to that question without some knowledge of who the residents of Storybrooke really were and especially not that thinly veiled query.  He approached her slowly.  “Belle?  Is it really you, my darling girl?” he asked, tears welling in his eyes.

 

She threw herself into his arms, letting him envelop her in his embrace.  “It’s me, papa,” she cried, weeping years of heartache and miscommunication out on his shirt.

 

“What happened to you? Magic?  Who did this to you?” he asked in a rush, pulling her into the back room with him and gesturing for Nicholas to follow.

 

“ _Mo chroí, this is a horrible idea and I’m telling you now I don’t like it!_ ” Nicholas hissed in Ancient, making his feelings on the subject clear.

 

“ _This is something I need to do, Nicholas.  He’s my father and there’s a good chance I won’t get to see him again. Let me say goodbye._ ”

 

Rush sighed, knowing he couldn’t, in good conscience, deny her request.  “Fine.  I’m going to have Peterson fetch me another coffee while you two catch up,” he said sulkily, tugging her forward to give her a swift kiss.  He didn’t want her father to have any doubt in his mind where he stood with Belle.

 

“ _I love you, Nicholas_ ,” she murmured, a rosy blush coloring her cheeks.

 

He paused in the doorway and grinned wickedly.  “ _Aye, my treasure, I love you too_.”

 

“Belle,” Maurice said, eyeing her curiously.  “Please.  I need to know what happened to you, how you got this way.”

 

Belle sat down on the stool at his worktable and heaved a deep breath.  “It’s a rather long story.  Papa, you have to understand that I couldn’t stay here after…after what happened to Gold.”  She went on to tell him about her flight over the town line, her academic career that led her to Nicholas and a modified version of her life on Destiny.  There was no reason to make the poor man worry more than he already had. 

 

“So your mind is in someone else’s body?” he asked, staring at her wide-eyed, a bewildered expression on his face.

 

“Yes.  I’m still me, though, papa.  At least I got to see you,” she smiled.  “Now, tell me what happened after I left.  Have you ventured from Storybrooke at all?”

 

He sighed, removing his ball cap and scratching at his thinning hair.  “Well, Regina, Emma and their boy saved us all from the curse after the Dark One…er…Gold,” he amended when she arched a brow at him,  “sacrificed himself to save us all from Pan.  I didn’t know what had happened to you.  Even Sheriff Swan and Regina couldn’t find you.  Now I understand it was because you didn’t want to be found.”

 

She reached out and squeezed his hand reassuringly.  “I couldn’t stay, papa.  Not when every little thing would remind me of Rumpel.  I needed to leave, to find a new life for myself without him.  But I have Nicholas now, and I’m happy, so I don’t want you to worry about me.”

 

“How can I not, Belle?  You’re not even on the planet!” he hissed, looking over his shoulder as if expecting someone to come and snatch her away from him.

 

“Just know that I’ve found my happy ending, papa.  Be happy for me.”

 

“I am, daughter,” he said, drawing her into his embrace.  “I love you so much, Belle, and I’m so thankful you’ve finally come home.”

 

“Belle,” Nicholas said from the doorway.  “Your friend, Miss Swan is heading this way and she doesn’t look too happy.  Do you want to talk to her as well or are you ready to go back?”

 

She looked at him, startled.  “Emma can’t know who I am.  She’ll have too many questions I’m just not prepared to answer.  Perhaps one day, but not now.”  Nicholas nodded, accepting her decision and dialed Peterson on his cell, giving the major directions to the florist shop. 

 

“No, you can’t leave already,” Moe protested.  “I’ve only just gotten you back.  There’s still so much I have to say.”

 

“I know, papa,” she said softly, reaching up to stroke his cheek.  “And we will.  I’ll arrange to see you again, I promise.  Trust me.”

 

The SUV pulled up behind _Game of Thorns_ as Emma began pounding on the front door of the shop.  Moe looked warily towards the door and then back at Belle.  “I do, tulip.  I love you.”

 

“I love you, too, papa.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Nicholas rested his chin on his Belle’s shoulder as he sat on the stool and she stood between his parted legs tapping out code on the console.  She was perfectly content to work with him practically wrapped around her.  They had returned to Destiny only a scant hour ago and he’d chased everyone from the control room so they could have their privacy to talk.

 

“I’m sorry you didn’t have more time with your father, but it seemed to have done you some good to spend even a little with him,” he said, catching her hand and showing her the mistake she’d made in the line. 

 

She quickly corrected it and began again.  “I’m glad I went back.  It was worth it to see him.  We parted on rather bad terms long before I left Storybrooke.”

 

“You want to tell me what prompted our little visit?” he asked, his tone coaxing her to share with him.  He hated to push, usually allowing her to share in her own time, but he had to admit to being more than a little curious.

 

Belle stiffened, but she didn’t push him away.  “My greatest fear.  When I was in my coma I lived my greatest fear,” she whispered, her fingers slowing on the console and finally stopping as she set his notebook aside and turned in his arms to face him.

 

His eyes were soft sable brown, filled with love and concern for her as his hands squeezed her hips lightly.  “What is your fear, Belle?”

 

She looked away, her gaze focused on the buttons of his waistcoat, unable to look at the worry upon his face if she was going to explain what she’d been running from.  “My biggest fear, when I left Storybrooke, was that someone would come to drag me back.  I couldn’t stay there, Nicholas.  Gold was gone…there was nothing left for me there.  So I ran.  I ran to escape the pain.”

 

Rush brushed her tears away and pulled her in for a light kiss, his thumbs gently caressing her cheekbones.  “Tell me what happened, Belle.  I’ve never seen you so frightened and upset about anything.  Frankly, you scared the shit out of me.”

 

“I’m sorry.  It’s just really hard to talk about this after keeping my secrets for so long.”  She sighed and rested her head against his shoulder.  “In my nightmare, O’Neil called me down to HWC because Emma broke into headquarters and got herself caught.  When I went to see her in interrogation, she knew it was me.  She knew!  It was awful.  She took me back to Storybrooke and she and Regina and Gold…yes,” she said at his befuddled expression, “Gold was alive.  They switched my body for McCormack’s and brought me back to Storybrooke.”

 

“How the hell—“

 

“Magic, darling.  Gold is … was … very powerful, never doubt it.  I was trapped with no way to get back to you.”  Tears slowly made their way over her lashes to spill down her ashen face again, but she took comfort in his tight embrace, drawing strength from his love.  “I love you, Nicholas.  As much as I loved Gold, I lost him.  I can’t bear to lose you too.”

 

“You won’t, my Belle.”

 

“So now you see why I had to go back.  I had to make sure he was really gone.  I had to confront my fear rather than run from it over and over.  Now I’m free.  Although I would like very much to visit my father again.”

 

He stroked his hand over her hair, his fingers kneading the tension from her nape.  “I’ll talk to O’Neil personally.  We’ll make it work.”

 

The FTL drive disengaged and she slumped against him with a wave of dizziness.  She wondered if she’d ever grow accustomed to the sensation.  Rush reached around her and pulled up the link to the gate room, a new feature Brody had coordinated a few days before.  Young joined them, poking his head into the control room to make sure he was welcome.  Someone must have warned him that Rush wanted to be alone with Belle.

 

“So, you two, what’ve we got?”  He took in Belle’s red nose and tear stained face and frowned with concern.  “Dr. French, are you well?”

 

“Fine, Colonel, thank you.”  She looked down at the console and nodded.  “Atmosphere’s good if you want to send a team.”

 

Rush looked up at the clock above the door.  “Ten hours on the countdown.  Your call, Colonel.”

 

Young shrugged.  “I suppose.  Our luck’s gotta change at _some_ point.”

 

“Just remember the bug spray,” Belle snarked, grinning cheekily at Young.

 

Rush and Young both shook their heads at her as the colonel lifted his radio and pressed the com button.  “Scott, this is Young.  Get a team ready.  You’re going off world.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: OMG I AM AN EMOTIONAL TRAIN WRECK!!! You can thank AquaJasmine23 and Emilie Brown for inspiring this chapter. I want to tell you I am ready to curl up beneath my desk and not come out for a week! I’ve never bawled so hard while writing a story before, but we needed to have Belle face the fear of her past at some point and I figured this would be as good a time as any. I fully expect you all to review and tell me what a vile heinous evil bitch I am, but I absolutely deserve it. If you read the chapter all the way through and didn’t abandon the fic in the middle, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. I love you all!


	18. Subversion

 

Rush’s eyes flickered rapidly behind his closed lids as he shifted restlessly in his sleep.  He flinched, visions dancing through his mind’s eye, the acrid taste of fear on his tongue as he looked up at the abandoned warehouse looming before him.  The scene changed, his hand reaching out to touch a cool metal box, the number 314 stamped on its side.  Again, it changed and he could smell the dampness in the air, a river flowing smoothly in the distance.  A woman – someone he knew he’d never seen before – spoke in hushed tones from the passenger seat of a car. 

 

Once again he jerked in his sleep, his arm tightening almost painfully around Belle as she reached out to smooth her hand over his chest, an involuntary motion she often did throughout the night when he succumbed to his dreams that inevitably turned to nightmares.

 

If he could just awaken and chase the disturbing visions from his head.  He was almost there, caught in the void between dreaming and waking.  Just a little further.  The woman rolled her window up and he gasped, his reflection – Telford – staring back at him, the shock enough to jolt him from his fevered dream.  He sat up quickly, disentangling himself from Belle and reaching for the mug of water he kept close to hand on the bedside table.  He swung his legs over the side of the bed and drained the cup, breathing deeply as he fought against the fear and anger pumping through his veins.

 

“Nicholas?” Belle’s soft voice whispered through the dark as she sat up and lightly ran her hand over the tense muscles of his back.  “What is it, darling?  Another dream?”

 

He tried to relax so as not to alarm her, willing his heart to slow and his breathing to even out.  This was not something he wished her to worry about first thing in the morning.  They’d been through so much together over the past several months and she was still waking in the middle of the night shaking and cold, the sheets drenched in sweat because of her fear.  He couldn’t make things worse for her now.  He’d be better off speaking with the colonel, though the idea chafed.

 

Nicholas turned to her, pressed his face into the soft curve of her neck and sighed, warmth flooding his chest as he breathed her in.  He no longer felt as though he were drifting along, merely existing one day to the next.  Now, he lived, his life full and rewarding, shared with the one person he could love with his whole heart.  “Go back to sleep, love.  It’s still early.”

 

Belle hummed softly, rubbing her cheek against his.  She made a soft noise of contentment as the soft bristles of his short beard caressed her skin.  “Lie down with me.  You don’t need to report to work yet for hours,” she murmured sleepily.

 

He pulled the duvet up more securely about her shoulder and smiled even though he knew she could only vaguely make him out in the soft glow of the FTL lights shining through the porthole.  “I must go, _mo chroí_.  Duty calls.”

 

She nodded and nestled down onto his pillow, burying her nose against the soft sateen pillowcase and breathed in his scent that clung to the fabric.  He stayed with her until she slipped back into slumber, guilt weighing heavily upon his shoulders for not confiding in her what he’d seen in his dream.  There would be time – later – to tell her everything.  He pressed a soft kiss to her temple and rose from the bed to dress.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

 Rush knocked on the bulkhead next to the open door of the colonel’s quarters, awaiting permission to enter.  As late as it was, he was fortunate the man wasn’t in bed yet, though it wouldn’t have stopped him from waking the man. 

 

Young grunted in response and waved a hand for Nicholas to enter, glancing up from the paperwork on his desk.  “You’re up late,” he said, returning to his work.

 

Rush paced around the small sitting area to the front of the desk, his hands twitching nervously at his sides.  “Yeah.  I just had a very interesting dream,” he replied, the agitation clearly evident in his voice.

 

“Everyone thinks their dreams are interesting, Rush,” Everett scoffed, his pen still in motion across the paper.  “Nobody else cares.”

 

“Yeah?” he snorted.  “Well, you’re going to care about this one.”  He walked over to the door and palmed the release, the doors sliding closed to afford them a measure of privacy.  He took a seat on one of the sofas facing the desk, stress and anxiety coiling in his stomach.  “I’m outside a warehouse on Earth and there’s birds – at least, I can hear them.  Seagulls, I think.”

 

Everett glanced up at him briefly to show he was paying attention before returning to his paperwork.

 

Rush ignored him, anxious to be done with the task.  He hoped somehow he’d be able to find a measure of peace once he’d shared the issue with his colleague.  “I’m at some kind of meeting.  There’s four or five people there.”

 

“Who?” Young asked disinterestedly.

 

“I don’t know, I don’t know, but I’m giving them information, reports, files.”  He paused, leaning forward and bracing his forearms on his knees as he rubbed his hands together.  “I’m talking about Icarus in detail.”

 

That seemed to have gained the colonel’s attention.  “Well, who were they?”

 

“I don’t know. I…”  He closed his eyes, trying to remember the details of the dream that seemed to elude him the harder he fought to draw them to the forefront of his mind.  “They had a Goa’uld cargo ship.”

 

“The Lucian Alliance on Earth?!” Everett asked, half rising from his chair in surprise.

 

“I can only guess,” Rush shrugged.

 

Young shook his head in disbelief.  “You dreamed you were the spy who leaked everything about Icarus to the Lucian Alliance?”

 

“No, no, no, not _me_.  It wasn’t _me_ ,” Nicholas insisted, his irritation growing as he tried to get the man to understand.  Belle would have understood immediately and his previous guilt returned ten-fold.  Not only would she have understood, but she would have insisted he go straight to O’Neil, completely bypassing the chain of command.  Perhaps he should have told her. 

 

“Rush, what the hell are you talking about?”

 

Nicholas shook his head, trying to clear it.  “On the way back to the car, I saw my reflection.   It was Colonel Telford.  _I_ was Colonel Telford.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Scott strode into the colonel’s quarters, having been summoned by his commanding officer.  It wasn’t as if there were much to do as things had been rather quiet.  Simply day to day routine to occupy their time.  However, he began to worry as he took in the colonel’s dark frown and troubled eyes.  “You wanted to see me sir?”

 

“Close the door, Lieutenant and have a seat.”  Young sat opposite him and explained what had happened to Rush and the suspicions he had about Telford.  “Rush switched with him two days ago, when he escorted Dr. French to a meeting with Dr. Williams to discuss their joint research.  The only reason I’m telling you is because you are the only person who’s ever experienced this kind of bleed-through memory after using the stones.”

 

Scott groaned inwardly.  He remembered all too well as to what the colonel was referring.  Not long after they’d boarded Destiny, he’d switched with Telford and the apparent ‘bleed-through’ had allowed him to see just what was going on between Colonel Young’s wife and the man who was supposed to be his friend.  Afterwards, the colonel had gone down to Earth and confronted them both, which led to Everett beating the man bloody and his subsequent divorce.  Scott didn’t put much faith in the accuracy of the occurrence, however.

 

“It was just that once, sir.”

 

“Thank you, Lieutenant,” Young nodded, dismissing the man.

 

Scott rose, turning to the door.  He hesitated, thinking for a moment before turning back to the colonel.  “Alright, look, sir.  I understand that you have your issues with Colonel Telford, but you cannot seriously—“

 

Young gestured to the sofa once more, urging Scott to resume his seat.  “Before he was assigned to Icarus, Telford spent the better part of a year undercover, infiltrating the Lucian Alliance.”

 

“You really think he would turn?” Scott asked incredulously.

 

“Eight months into his assignment, there was an attack on a planet that we had a large team working on, P2S-569.  Thirty-seven people were killed.  Now, we later found out that Telford knew about the attack and decided to do nothing.”

 

“In order to protect his cover,” Scott said in defense of the man.

 

Young pinched the bridge of his nose.  Scott still saw everything as black and white, good and bad.  To his way of thinking, there was no in between.  “That’s what he said.  Stargate Command let him off the hook and everything was swept under the carpet, but now…”

 

“Sir,” Scott tried to reason.  “There has to be more to it than that.”

 

“We know that the Goa’uld had brainwashing technology that could make a man turn against his mother and be proud of it.  It is possible that the Alliance now has that capability,” Young said, casting him a pointed look.

 

“Well, if they _do_ , sir, then we can’t trust _anyone_.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle erased the last line of code and tossed Rush’s notebook on the console in irritation.  She cast him another furtive glance across the room where he hovered over the primary console and frowned.  He was preoccupied, easily distracted and downright manic today and nothing she said was able to calm him.  It had to be more than a nightmare to have him in such a state. 

 

She abandoned her work and moved behind him, smoothing her hands over his shoulders.  Her frown deepened as he stiffened instead of relaxing into her touch.  “Nicholas, what’s wrong?  You haven’t been yourself all morning.”

 

“Just tired,” he snapped, unnecessarily harsh.  It didn’t sit well with him to keep secrets from her.  If Belle suspected he was being less than honest with her, she’d eventually ferret it out and he didn’t even want to think of how she’d react.  He just knew it wasn’t something he wanted to even contemplate.

 

Belle hummed in disapproval as she moved to his side and reached up to brush the hair away from his eyes.  He wouldn’t meet her gaze as he continued to pound away at the console.  She knew he wasn’t paying attention to what he was doing as the computer beeped.  It was so clear to her that something was terribly wrong and he was trying to protect her, keep her in the dark… Her jaw clenched, his tells so easy for her to see.  His averted gaze, his withdrawal from her touch, his tightly compressed lips…all sure signs that he was shutting her out.

 

“Let’s take a walk.  You need a break, Nicholas.”

 

“I don’t need a break,” he snarled, grinding his teeth in vexation.

 

Young strode into the control room and gave Rush a pointed look as he stopped next to the console.  “Dr. French, Eli, might Dr. Rush and I please have the room?”

 

Belle watched in dismay as Nicholas’s color heightened and his hands clasped tightly in his lap, the knuckles white.  She should have known whatever he was hiding involved the colonel.  “I’m sure whatever you have to say to Nicholas, you can say to me as well, Colonel,” she said, crossing her arms stubbornly over her chest.

 

Eli scoffed.  “Secrets. You two…”

 

“Nicholas,” Belle persisted when Rush didn’t answer.

 

“We’ll talk later, Belle,” Rush said, finally glancing up at her with a blank expression.  “Check in with Brody and see how the repairs are coming with the dome, yeah?”

 

She gnashed her teeth, the muscle in her jaw twitching as her gaze swung between her lover and the colonel.  “Fine,” she snapped.  “Eli!  Let’s grab some lunch and then check on the dome repairs while Rush pulls his head out of his arse and remembers what’s important.”

 

“But we have work to do, and—“

 

“Eli, now!”  She took his arm, tugging on his sleeve to get him moving.  The look she cast Rush over her shoulder clearly stated – in no uncertain terms – that she would deal with him later.

 

“You’re keeping things from Dr. French now?” Young asked after he’d palmed the door release and locked it from the inside to afford them some privacy.

 

“I don’t want her involved in this,” he said, rubbing his hands over his face in exasperation.

 

“She’s going to be upset—“

 

“You think I don’t know that!” he snarled, rising to pace around the console.  “She’s going to be bloody well furious, but the less people know about this the better.  And that includes my Belle.”

 

“So,” Young said, getting to the point of all the secrecy.  “I talked to Scott, and he doesn’t remember anything like your dream.”

 

“Well, we have to _do_ something.  Telford’s till on active rotation with the stones, yeah?” he asked, stroking a hand over his beard as he paced.

 

“Yeah,” the colonel confirmed.

 

“He’s due to make a connection in a couple of days with Dr. Morrison.  What if I take Morrison’s place?”

 

“And do what?” Young gaped.  “Try to make contact with the Alliance? It’s too risky.  Belle would have my head if I let you go off half-cocked and something happened to you.”

 

“Well, it’s a pretty good disguise, actually being inside someone else’s body.  Belle will be fine until I get back,” he said, though he didn’t believe a word of what he was saying.  There was still a very good chance that he couldn’t pull it off and wouldn’t come back at all.  But he was doing this to protect her.  If they could eliminate the threat of the Alliance, he might be able to rest easier knowing she was safe.

 

“I still say it’s too risky.  I’ll go instead.”

 

“No.  That would be a mistake,” Rush argued, shaking his head.  “I had the dream.  There are still elements I’m trying to piece together.  For example, there’s a number – three one four.  Now, I know that’s significant, but I don’t know why.  If I’m there, in Telford’s environment, then …”

 

“You’re not trained for this, Rush.  If Stargate Command is this badly compromised, I can’t tell _anyone_ what you’re up to.  Do you understand that?” the colonel argued, trying to make him see this was a bad plan.  He couldn’t say he didn’t want the Alliance stopped just as much as Rush did, but it was still too dangerous to risk Rush.  Whether he wanted to admit it or not, Destiny needed him.

 

Rush nodded.  “Yep.”

 

“Damnit, Rush, once you’re on Earth, you are on your own.  No back-up.”

 

Rush held up a hand to forestall any more of the man’s objections.  “I get it, but someone has to stop this guy.  He can’t be allowed to continue.  The Alliance probably already know more about this ship than _we_ do.”

 

“Which isn’t much,” Everett snorted, raking a hand through his hair in frustration.

 

“Speak for yourself,” Rush sneered, arching a brow at the man.  He wouldn’t admit it, especially to Young, but he would wager a week’s rations that Belle knew more than anyone.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle thanked Vanessa and hurried towards the communications lab.  She’d been the third person to give Belle directions on where to find Dr. Rush – because of course the stubborn man wasn’t answering his radio – and he was going to talk to her whether he wanted to or not.  She was tired of him avoiding her.  He’d been acting strangely since he’d woken two nights ago from his nightmare.  It was more than a little odd for him to keep everything bottled up inside instead of talking to her.  He’d gotten quite good at sharing his thoughts and feelings with her and she knew it must be really bad to have him hiding himself away from her.

 

She had noticed Dr. Morrison on the schedule for a visit to Earth today – she made most of the schedules on the ship, so she ought to be able to remember – so she could only reason that Rush had some last minute questions for their colleague.  If she could catch him in the lab, she might be able to coax him into having lunch with her and maybe a little chat to find out what was bothering him.  She smiled at Scott as she breezed into the room and hurried over to Nicholas’s side, throwing her arms about his neck and kissing him soundly.  She really didn’t care who watched.  Damnit, she’d missed him.

 

Belle froze, noticing the lack of response from her love.  Had she kissed him like that any other time, he would be trying to drag her back to their quarters…or the showers…or a convenient deserted corridor.  It was as if he were a different…

 

She released him as though she’d been punched in the gut and groaned.  “Do I even want to know what the hell is going on?” she asked, glaring at Scott as he tried not to laugh at the scene before him.  Riley, sitting at the table manning the stones was more vocal in his laughter.

 

“Dr. French, may I ask what you think you’re doing?”

 

Her cheeks blazed with color as she recognized that condescending tone.  “Where is Dr. Morrison?”

 

“Change of plans.  You’ll have to speak to the colonel,” Riley snickered.  “Hey, are you alright?” He called after her as she spun on her heel and marched purposefully towards the door.

 

“No, I’m not,” she ground out in what sounded like a growl.  “I’m in the need to kick something really hard, and right now I can think of nothing better than a certain sneaky colonel.”

 

Her hands fisted at her sides as she made her way to the colonel’s quarters, a red haze falling over her eyes as her mind whirled with fear and anger.  What were those two plotting?  It was highly suspicious for Rush to trust Young at all, much less with all the cloak and dagger bullshit running rampant on the ship.  No wonder he was avoiding her.  He knew she would have eventually pried his scheme out of him and of course he just couldn’t have that.  It was likely some hair-brained plot to protect her, she seethed, her body trembling with rage.

 

Belle nearly collided with Young as he turned down the corridor leading to the lab.  “Just the man I wanted to see,” she snarled, pointing a finger into the center of his chest and taking supreme satisfaction when he winced.

 

“Dr. French, I don’t have time to chat,” he mumbled, trying to step around her.  He’d hoped to avoid her until Rush had made it safely back to the ship.  He should have known that would be impossible.

 

“Well you’re going to make time.  You can bloody well spare five minutes to tell me what Telford – _fucking Telford_ – is doing in Rush’s body,” she hissed, poking him again as she advanced on him.

 

He held up both hands to ward her off, never having seen her so angry.  “Shhh!  Calm down, Belle.  If Rush didn’t tell you what he was doing—“

 

“Don’t give me that shit, Everett.  You don’t know what I’ve been through in my life.  I’ve seen things that would have you curled up in a ball under your bed howling for your mother!  Commanding officer or not, I will _not_ have you lie to me.”

 

Young stared down at the petite brunette, her face flushed, her chest heaving and her teeth bared.  She looked as if she were ready to tear him apart with her bare hands if he so much as uttered one tiny white lie.  He was going to have to talk to Greer again about her defense training.  Finally, he sighed and reached into his jacket, withdrawing the sealed letter Rush had left him to give to her.

 

Her face fell into an expression of concern as she snatched it from his hand and tore open the envelope.  Nicholas’s looping scrawl, a mixture of Ancient symbols and English, met her eyes and she blanched, quickly looking up at the colonel before turning away to read what Rush had written.

 

_Belle—_

_Please try not to be too angry that I’ve left without informing you of my reasons.  If I had told you beforehand, you would have tried to talk me out of it and this is just something I felt I had to do.  I have reason to believe that Colonel Telford is our mole, that he was the one to betray us to the Lucian Alliance.  He is behind the attack on Icarus that could very well have killed us all._

 

The color drained from her face as her knees gave out and she slid down the wall to rest on her haunches.  She could feel the smarting of tears behind her lids as she raised a hand to cover her mouth, hoping the gesture would hold the feral cry from passing her tightly compressed lips.  She was barely aware of the colonel dropping to one knee and placing a comforting hand upon her shoulder.

 

 _Mo chroí, please understand.  I have to do what I can to discover what the Alliance is plotting.  Everyone on board Destiny is in danger, but most importantly it is my duty to protect_ you. _Don’t interfere with Young’s plans for Telford.  If anything, help him if need be.  I promise to return as soon as I have gained the intelligence needed to bring him to justice, my Belle.  Try not to worry.  I love you, Belle, more than you will ever know.  Be safe._

_Yours always—_

_Nicholas_

 

Belle buried her face in her hands, the letter clutched desperately in her right fist.  How could he do this?  The danger he was placing himself in, and Young had helped him do it!  She turned her watery narrow-eyed gaze on Young and he flinched at the burning anger he saw there.  “How could you let him go?  He’s not trained for this, Everett!” she hissed furiously.  “He’s going to get himself killed!”

 

He took her elbow and helped her to her feet, trying to keep his voice low so as not to be overheard.  “I tried to talk him out of it, tried to explain the risks, but he was insistent.  You know how Rush is when he wants something.  If I hadn’t agreed, he would have gone straight to O’Neil.”

 

“What are we going to do?” she asked, drying her tears on the sleeve of her blue tunic.  “How do we help Nicholas?”

 

Young shook his head.  “ _You_ are going to go about business as usual and let me deal with Telford.”  He raised a hand as she opened her mouth to protest, forestalling her objections.  “You’ve been read in to his undercover dealings with the Alliance.  We have to make sure he hasn’t been brainwashed by them and if he has we have to try to undo the damage.  It’s not going to be pleasant, Dr. French, and I promised Rush I wouldn’t let you become involved.”

 

“Rush isn’t here, thanks to some misguided notion he has where he thinks I need protection and your stupidity for allowing it.  You will not keep me from this, Everett.”  He sighed as she paced away from him.  “Can’t we just disconnect the stones, bring him back?”

 

“If we do it could compromise him.  If Telford realizes what’s happening, there’s no telling what he might do.  It’s best if Rush remains where he is and gathers as much intel as possible.”

 

Belle wrapped her arms tightly around her torso as a tremor of fear shook her small frame.  She paced back over to him and glared up into his stony face.  “If something happens to my Nicholas, Colonel, I’m holding you personally responsible and I assure you … there will be nowhere you can hide from me on this ship that I won’t find you.  Are we clear?”

 

Everett shook his head, knowing she meant every word of her threat.  He wasn’t stupid or blind and knew just how much Rush had come to mean to her.  He’d have to visit the armory and make it clear to his people that she wasn’t allowed anywhere near their store of weapons.  She had no regard whatsoever for his authority, but treated him as if her were a peasant in her kingdom.  She wouldn’t hesitate to enact her revenge against him.  He didn’t even want to contemplate how he’d feel if Tamara put herself in the same situation, so he had a clear idea of what she was going through.  “Dr. French, nothing is going to happen to Rush.  He’s very resilient and more than a little sneaky.  He can handle himself.”

 

“You’d better hope so.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

“Hey,” Belle called out to TJ as she entered the mess, forcing herself to paste a bright smile on her face as she greeted her friend.  “I’m so sorry I’m late.  Work, y’know.” 

 

Chloe scooted over on the bench so she could sit beside her, concern marring her brow.  “You alright, Belle?”

 

“Yeah.  Seriously though, I didn’t mean to miss the party,” Belle said, sliding a small wrapped package across the table to her friend.  “This is from me and Nicholas.”

 

TJ cooed happily as she took it from Belle and untied the bright linen ribbon holding it securely together.  Inside was a set of intricately carved and detailed alphabet blocks for the baby.  “Oh, Belle, these are fabulous.  You shouldn’t have.”  She reached across the table and squeezed her hand in thanks.

 

Belle tried to smile.  “Nicholas carved them and I used my nail polish to paint them…give them a bit of color.  It was fun and something we were able to make together.”

 

TJ set them aside and leveled her with a look.  “Belle, what’s wrong, and don’t tell me ‘nothing’.  You’ve been crying and—“

 

“Does it have anything to do with Telford wearing Nick’s body?” Chloe asked quietly.  There were several of the crew wandering around the mess still enjoying the small banquet Becker had provided for the baby shower and she didn’t want their conversation to carry.

 

Belle smiled brightly and gestured to the small pile of gifts set on the end of the table.  “So what did you get?” she asked, desperately trying to change the subject.

 

TJ arched a brow in suspicion, but smiled regardless, unable to quell the happiness she felt over the support she was receiving where the baby was concerned.  “Riley made a truck out of spare parts he found around the ship.  Look,” she said, picking up the toy and turning one of the wheels, “the wheels work and everything.  And I got some clothes sewn by several members of the crew.  Oh, and Brody and Volker made a crib.”

 

“That’s amazing, TJ.  I’m so happy for you.”

 

Chloe wasn’t buying any of her false cheer.  “Alright, now tell us what’s going on.  I know you, Belle.  No matter how much you try to hide it, something’s terribly wrong.”

 

Belle sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.  “I just…Nicholas made a connection with Telford and I can’t stand it.  It’s bad enough that he went to Earth without me, but to see Telford – ugh!!” she growled in frustration.  “He’s constantly trying to undermine Rush and—“ She buried her head in her hands and bit her lip to keep from screaming.

 

“This is the first time he’s ever had to visit HWC without you, Belle.  It’s understandable that you’re worried,” TJ said, reaching for a bit of the fruit on the plate in the center of the table.

 

“Especially after everything you’ve already endured with being separated because of the planet and trying to get back.

 

Belle nodded, unable to do anything else.  No matter how much she wanted… _needed_ …to confide in her friends, she knew she couldn’t.  Young and apparently Scott were the only ones on board who had a clue as to what was going on and she wouldn’t put Rush in any more jeopardy than he was already in.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle didn’t even look up from the console as Brody and Volker entered the control interface room and palmed the door lock.  The fine hairs prickled on the back of her neck and her fingertips lost some of their speed as she typed out code into the computer.

 

Eli’s brow furrowed as the door whooshed shut.  No one ever closed the door to the control room.  “What’s going on, guys?” he asked, taking in the dark looks passing between the two friends.

 

“We were hoping you could tell us,” Volker said, casting a furtive glance over at Belle.

 

“About Rush, going back to Earth on the stones, unscheduled,” Brody added.

 

Eli, too, glanced over at the petite scientist as she continued to tap out code.  “Well, I’m…uh…I’m sure there’s a good reason.”

 

“Right, yeah. That's what we're afraid of,” Volker snorted.  
  
“He didn't say anything to you, Belle?” Eli asked.

Belle raised her gaze and stared pointedly at the trio of colleagues.  “He had urgent business that couldn’t wait,” she said, saved from having to elaborate as her radio chirped.

 

“Dr. French, we’re ready,” Young said as she answered.

 

“On my way.”  She headed to the door and palmed the lock.  “You three had better get back to work.  Just because Rush is away doesn’t mean we get a free day, gentlemen.”

 

Brody looked to the others as she stalked out of the room, her sandals slapping a staccato against her heels as she left.  “Oh yeah, something’s definitely going on.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Young was already in motion as Belle shook off the dizziness that assailed her every time she used the stones.  She didn’t even bother glancing into the mirror on the table to see whose body she was occupying.

 

“I need to speak to General O’Neil immediately,” he said to the airman standing guard over the door.

 

“And you are?”

 

“Colonel Everett Young, authentication one six one nine four one four, and this is Dr. Belle French.  Tell him it’s urgent.”

 

They were led to O’Neil’s office and didn’t have to wait long before the general joined them.  “This had better be important, Everett.  You interrupted a national security meeting for this.  Belle, lovely to see you, dear.”  Jack sat down at his desk and leveled them with a curious look.  “So what’s up?”

 

Everett rubbed a hand wearily over the back of his neck.  “It’s Dr. Rush, sir.  He’s on Earth right now in the body of Colonel Telford.  Probably hasn’t even left the building.”

 

“So?” O’Neil asked, spreading his hands as if to ask what the big deal was.  Unless he was meeting with someone at HWC it wasn’t unusual to leave the premises.

 

“We need to put a tail on him.”

 

“Well, he’s got an escort,” Jack said, his brow furrowing.

 

Everett shook his head, not even glancing at Belle as she sat still as a stone next to him.  “He’ll ditch the escort first chance he gets, sir.  I think we should let him do it, then follow him discreetly.”

“Why?”  
  
Belle sat forward in her chair.  “Because Nicholas is about to try and make contact with the Lucian Alliance.”

 

O’Neil sat back in stunned silence as his secretary brought in a small tray with three mugs of tea.  After she closed the door behind her, he took the opportunity to explain about Rush’s dream and his theory of the stone transference and residual memories.  Belle sat silently, merely there to protect Rush’s interests.  Young had figured it would be better to keep her as actively involved as possible rather than have her seal him in his quarters and vent the atmosphere.

 

Jack stared at him incredulously.

 

“If I’m not mistaken, sir, I believe you witnessed the effects of this brainwashing technology first hand?”

 

“Yeah.  Yeah, that’s true.”

 

“I recommend we keep the number of people we bring in on this to a minimum,” Everett advised.

Jack smirked up at him.  “Well, thank you, Colonel, for stating the obvious.”

 

Young blinked and looked down into his mug as Belle snorted over the rim of hers.  “Truth is, you took a bit of a chance by  _telling_  me, didn't you?”

“Well, I  _had_  to, sir. Rush was asking for a free pass and an unscheduled, unauthorized visit to Earth - exactly the sort of thing he might do if he was the mole himself.”

 

Belle rose to her feet, her eyes narrow chips of ice as she glared at Young.  “My Nicholas is not a mole, Everett,” she hissed icily as she set her mug down on Jack’s desk.  “You of all people should know how important this project has been to him.  For you to even suggest—“

 

“Belle, calm down,” Jack sighed, sitting back in his chair to rub a hand over his brow.  “No one is accusing Dr. Rush of being a subversive.  And even if he was the mole, why would he be trying to frame Telford at this point?”

 

“He wouldn’t,” she insisted.  “Unlike Telford, Nicholas has honor and a respect for human life.  He wouldn’t place his colleagues at risk if it could be avoided and certainly not to further the Alliance’s purposes.”

 

“Well, if he’s telling the truth, hopefully he’ll be able to lead us to the Alliance without losing his life,” O’Neil said.

Belle raked a hand through her shoulder length hair as she paced behind Young’s chair.  “If you’re going to have anyone tail him, might I suggest Daniel?  He knows Nicholas best, and should be able to anticipate his movements.”

 

“I agree,” Everett replied, finishing off his tea.  He rose from his chair.  “I’ll keep you informed, sir.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

“Dr. French!”

 

Belle didn’t slow her stride as she headed towards the control room, ignoring Camille’s call as she hurried to catch up with her.  The anger simmering just beneath the surface had in no way diminished, but seemed to be growing the longer Nicholas was absent from Destiny.  She didn’t think she had the patience to deal with the IOA representative today.

 

“Belle, wait!” Camille called, hurrying after her.  “I need to talk to you about Nicholas.”

 

Belle gnashed her teeth, the muscle in her jaw ticking violently.  What gave that woman the right to call Rush by his given name when she knew for a fact he’d never given her leave to do so.  “I’m busy, _Camille_ ,” she said, trying and failing to keep the snarl from her voice.  “Whatever questions you have can wait until Nicholas returns from HWC.”

 

Camille finally caught up to her, slightly out of breath.  She reached out and grabbed Belle’s elbow, forcing her to a stop.  She drew back slightly as the brunette’s icy blue eyes flashed menacingly at her.  Apparently, some of Rush’s anger issues had transferred to his assistant.  “I need to know why Dr. Morrison was bumped from his slot on the stones.”

 

“Take it up with the colonel, Camille.  I wasn’t consulted and even had I been, I don’t see how it’s any of your business.”

 

“Colonel Telford isn’t happy to be here, and—“

 

“When is David ever happy about anything, Camille,” Belle sneered, tossing her head back to dislodge the curl that had fallen over her eye.  “If he doesn’t want to be here, again I will advise that he take it up with Colonel Young.”

 

“I should have been told—“

 

Belle laughed bitterly.  “Always the power trip with you.  This isn’t high school, _Ms. Wray_.  The popular kids aren’t trying to make you feel left out.  There’s no need to feel slighted because no one asked your permission before they carried out their business…business that doesn’t concern you.”  She pushed past the smaller woman and continued down the corridor.  If she hadn’t been trying to cope with the fear she felt for what Rush was doing, she probably wouldn’t have been so disagreeable, but then again, maybe she would have.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Dr. Daniel Jackson pulled the black SUV off the road and jogged the rest of the way into what appeared to be an abandoned cannery.  He could hear the river flowing in the distance, the sound of a low horn on a barge, and the squawk of gulls overhead.  A strong smell of long dead and rotted fish assailed his nose as he disappeared stealthily between two warehouses, his camera slung around his neck securely by the strap and a communication device firmly in his right ear. 

 

He cursed softly as he gripped the metal rungs of the ladder attached to the side of a flat roofed office building and began to climb.  He needed the best vantage point as possible.  When O’Neil had briefed him on this mission, Daniel had gaped at him as if he’d taken leave of his senses.  What were they thinking, allowing Rush to go off and play spy when he should be working on the mysteries of the Ancient ship.  He wasn’t trained for something like this and Everett should never have agreed to it.  He had to wonder if Young’s judgment was impaired, whether he was letting his grudge against Telford and his distrust of Rush get in the way of what was right.  He wasn’t optimistic of the outcome of this folly, and even if Belle hadn’t personally requested his help, he would have come anyway.  Rush was a cantankerous old bastard, but he was still his friend.

 

Daniel crept across the roof, keeping low so as not to be spotted by Rush or the three men who’d filed out of the nondescript black van in which they’d arrived.  There was a rustic fence along the edge of the roof that would provide him limited cover.  He knelt behind it and pointed the camera over the side, bringing the long zoom into focus and snapping several pictures.  The escort below could be identified later.

 

He startled slightly as O’Neil’s voice crackled through his earpiece.  “Daniel, come in. Do you read?”  
  
“Jack, what is it?” he gritted out through clenched teeth, casting a fearful glance through the fencing to be assured he hadn’t been overheard.  
  
“Carter says they're using some kind of jamming device. We can't get a lock on  _anyone_  in the area. What's your status?”  
  
“They've stopped.  Looks like we're waiting on someone.”  
  
O’Neil pinched the bridge of his nose and focused on the intel he’d just been handed.  “Well, ground assault is standing by. They'll move when you call it.”

 

Another black SUV sped along the dirt road and came to a jarring stop several yards from where Rush stood.  Daniel pressed the button on his earpiece.  “Hang on, Jack.”

As Daniel looked through his lens, taking a few more photos, a woman exited the back seat of the vehicle and strode purposefully towards the group, her visage black as she stared a Rush.  
  
“Who  _are_  you?” she demanded, one finely manicured hand resting on her hip.  
  
“I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean,” Nicholas replied coolly.  
  
Her gaze was cold, a fiery blaze of ill-concealed venom shining in the depths of her blacker than pitch eyes. “Alright. Who am  _I_?”

 

Rush looked at her blankly, unable to answer or bluff his way through her queries as his mind raced to fit her face to the information catalogued in his mind.

Her thin lips curled into a sneer as she waited, not surprised that he couldn’t answer.  “Whoever you are, you must be using the Ancient communication stones.”  
  
“I don't know what you're talking about,” he said softly, forcing his body not to shift restlessly as his heart sped with fear of being found out.  
  
“You failed to use the proper code when you called in. Colonel Telford would never have made such a mistake.”  
  
She nodded to one of her minions and he removed a device from the pocket of his jacket, something similar to a taser, and pressed it to the side of Rush’s neck.  He couldn’t quell the cry that burst from his lips as he collapsed.  He would have fallen had the men next to him not caught him.  She removed a small remote from her pocket and aimed it between the office building and a warehouse, the cloaking on the Goa’uld ship fading away to leave it visible.

 

Daniel cursed as he activated his earpiece.  “His cover’s blown. Move in. Move in now.  They have a ship.”

 

He made haste down the ladder as the Alliance members hurriedly made their way to the Goa’uld ship, carrying an unconscious Rush between them.  The SGC assault team came tearing down the road, the tires of the black SUVs throwing gravel in their wake.  Daniel removed a pistol from the waistband of his dark jeans as he heard the ship powering up.  The assault team leapt from the vehicles in full battle gear, their weapons drawn.

 

The sounds of the ship’s engine grew louder as the team closed in on the warehouse.  “Go! Go!” the leader shouted, commanding his team forward.

 

Daniel resignedly trotted to a halt as the engine sounds faded into nothing.  His hand fell to his side, his sidearm pointing uselessly at the ground.  “Yeah,” he groaned, shaking his head at the commander of the team.  “We’re too late.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Colonel Young palmed the door lock to his quarters and the barrier opened with a grinding sound followed by a soft whoosh.  He raked his hand through his hair as he moved to the desk.  His ears picked up a strange sound he didn’t immediately recognize as a muffled sob as he turned towards his bedroom to investigate. 

 

His face fell as he saw TJ lying in their bed, her eyes red-rimmed and puffy.  “Aw, Tamara, what is it?  Are you alright?” he asked, moving to sit beside her and pull her into his arms.

 

“I’m fine,” she argued, swiping at an errant tear with the back of her sleeve.

 

“I thought your baby shower was today,” he said softly, stroking his hand over her back in soothing circles.  “Did someone say—“

 

“No, it’s not that.  Everyone was wonderful,” she sniffled.  She raised her watery gaze to him, her lower lip trembling.  “Everett, what chance does this baby have of ever living a normal life?”

 

Young sighed and pressed his brow to hers, inhaling deeply as his heart clenched with emotion.  “Tamara, I know right now it seems impossible that we’ll ever make it back to Earth, but I also know that since we’ve been here, it seems like we’re averaging about five impossible things a week.  Why assume the worst?  At the very least, there are a lot of people here who are gonna care about our baby.”

 

He waved a hand at the small pile of gifts sitting in the handmade crib and TJ smiled, saying a silent prayer of thanks for her friends.

 

Everett tilted her chin up and brushed his lips lightly to hers as his hand drifted down to knead softly at her rounded belly where their child rested.  “I love you, TJ, and I love our child.  We _will_ make this work, I promise.”

 

She smiled and nuzzled her nose into the crook of his neck.  “I love you too, Everett.”

 

He laid her gently back against the pillows and pulled the duvet over her shoulder as he brushed an errant curl, which had escaped its pins, behind her ear.  “Rest, okay?”  He pressed a kiss to her brow and dimmed the lights.  “I’ll check on you later.”

 

She was asleep before he could leave the room and lines of worry wrinkled his brow as he watched the even rise and fall of her chest.  All the more reason to deal with Telford now.  He wouldn’t allow anything to harm her or their baby.  Not as long as he drew breath.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Daniel placed the freshly developed photos on Jack’s desk, barely sparing a glance for Everett as he looked around.  “Where’s Belle?  Shouldn’t she be here?”

 

“Too risky.  If she came down twice in one day, it would raise suspicion and Camille and Telford are already watching her, thinking she knows more than she’s telling,” Young said, raking a weary hand through his hair.  “She does, of course, but they don’t need to be made aware of that fact.”

 

“You realize you’re going to have to tell her,” Jack said, giving him a pointed look.  Everett visibly cringed, nodding in agreement.

 

Daniel gestured to the photos he’d laid out on the desk.  “According to our intelligence, her name is Kiva.  She’s the daughter of a Lucian Alliance warlord named Masson, one of the higher-ups – powerful and brutal.”

 

“Did that intel come from Telford?” Young sneered, bitter over having lost Rush.  
  
O’Neil shrugged.  “Yeah, well, at least we know who the mole is, eh?”  
  
Daniel looked at Jack incredulously.  “There's an easy way to end this - we cut the connection on the stones.  We can’t just let the Alliance have Rush.”  
  
“Well, if they get Telford back, we're no closer to figuring out what they're up to,” Young intoned.  “He volunteered.  He knew the risks.”

“Yeah make sure you tell Belle just like that, Colonel.  She’ll be thrilled to hear you speak of him in such a blasé manner.” Daniel snarked.  “That cargo ship slipped past all of our sensors. We have no idea where it's going.”  
  
“Telford might, and he may know more,” Young said, looking at Jack for his opinion. “I'm just asking for the chance to get it out of him.”  
  
Jack stared at him thoughtfully before glancing at Daniel, awaiting the inevitable voice of conscience, which dutifully made itself known.  “He still has rights, doesn't he?” Daniel asked curiously, wondering just how far the two were willing to bend the rules.  
  
O’Neil waved a hand at Young as he met Daniel’s gaze.  “He didn't say  _how_  he was gonna do it.”  
  
Young’s features were hard as granite as he realized just what lengths he would have to go to in order to get the job done. “With all due respect, sir, you and I both know that people who made the rules were not prepared for anything like this.”  Without waiting for Jack’s reply, he left the room, heading back to the communications room.  Daniel arched a brow at the general and grimaced unhappily, knowing it wouldn’t end well for anyone involved.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Nicholas couldn’t stop the groan that rushed past his parted lips as feeling returned to his body and his head cleared.  He prayed to return to unconsciousness.  It felt as though someone had tried to fry his insides, and it was a feeling he never wished to experience again.  Cold metal manacles bracketed his wrists as he raised a hand to his throbbing head.

 

“I’m sorry,” the woman he’d met earlier at the warehouse, cooed silkily as he rolled over onto his back and propped himself against the wall.  “I know that really hurts.”

 

“I suppose it was worth it. Had to make it look good,” he gasped against the pain.  “Of _course_ I didn’t give them the code on purpose.  I’m not a _complete_ idiot.”

The woman’s eyes narrowed as she moved closer. “On purpose? What  _are_  you talking about?”  
  
He gnashed his teeth together and shifted to try to ease the pressure in his lungs.  Whatever they’d done to him hadn’t done his body any good. “They were getting suspicious.”  
  
“Yes, I was beginning to have concerns about that myself,” she sneered.  
  
“Well, that's why I had to come in. Wasn't sure whether I was being followed. I figured if they thought I was being taken by force, it might help us salvage something from this operation.”  He was bluffing – what choice did he have – and he knew she wasn’t buying it.  
  
“Nice try,” she smiled down at him.  If that was what you wanted to call the gesture.  It was feral and nasty and sent a cold tremor of trepidation down his spine.  “You almost managed to make that sound convincing.”

“Well, it sounds convincing because it's true,” he insisted, trying to remain calm.  He needed her to believe him.  That was the only way he’d ever get back to his Belle.  She was the whole reason he’d risked himself for this mission – to keep her safe.

 

“If you really _are_ Colonel Telford, you’ll know my name.”

 

Again Nicholas looked up at her, shrugged and looked away.  He wracked his mind for the knowledge he knew was buried deep within his mind, before he finally looked up at her with the answer.  “It’s Kiva.”

 

She tilted her chin up as she crossed her arms over her chest, her gaze darkly menacing.  “Good.  Next question: what’s _yours_?”

X*X*X*X*X

 

Scott and Greer were waiting outside of the colonel’s quarters when Belle arrived, having been summoned from the control room where she’d barely gotten any work done at all.  Frankly, she was getting rather tired of the suspicious glances being cast her way by Eli and Brody.  She’d had to send Dale off to work in hydroponics, his stares unnerving her considerably.  Her gaze swung between the two officers as she swept past them into Young’s inner sanctum.  She should have known Everett would have confided in them in order to have their assistance in dealing with Telford.

 

Everett waited for her, tension radiating from him as he leaned back against the front of his desk, his head bowed in silent reflection.  “You called for me,” she stated, spreading her hands before bringing them to clasp before her.  “Here I am, Everett.  Now, tell me how he was captured.”

 

His head jerked up in surprise.  “How did you—“

 

Tears smarted at the backs of her eyes, his failure to deny her suspicions confirming what she already knew.  “He is untrained for such tactics, Everett,” she said quietly, the weight of her emotions choking her.  “I-I knew he wouldn’t be able to do as you wished.  D-Daniel?” she faltered, her hand rising to cover the strangled sob trying to fight its way from deep inside her chest in the region of her heart.

 

“Jackson was able to track Rush to an abandoned warehouse – a cannery somewhere along the Potomac – had an assault team on standby, but apparently Rush didn’t have the answers the Alliance members wanted and they—“

 

“They took him,” she said, amazed at the calm she was able to project when she was in reality screaming inside.

 

“They had a ship, Dr. French.  Before the assault team could move in, they were gone.”  He raised a hand to give her shoulder a reassuring squeeze, but she jerked away from him, wrapping her arms about her torso in an effort to hold herself together.  He knew how much she loved the cantankerous scientist.  God knew they didn’t do anything to conceal their relationship.  “Belle, we’ll get him back.”

 

“I told you this was going to happen.  Everett, please, you have to break the connection to the stones.  Destiny – _I_ – need him,” she admitted, turning her pleading cerulean gaze on the man.  “To tell you the truth, I don’t give a damn what happens to Telford when the Alliance gets their hands on him.  I just need you to get my Nicholas back.”

 

Young grimaced, giving his head a firm shake.  “I can’t.  Telford may have information on what the Alliance is planning.  He may know where they’re taking Rush.  There’s still a chance we can get to him before—“

 

“Before what, Everett?!  Before they kill him?” she seethed, her hands falling to her side and balling into fists, her cheeks blooming with angry color.

 

“Rush believed this was the right thing to do.  We can’t let what the Alliance is doing go on.”

 

Belle snorted.  “Let me tell you something, Colonel.  Rush has two things in his life that mean everything to him.  Destiny and…” She took a deep breath.  “…and me.  He’s doing this to protect us.  I get that, but I could still happily strangle you right now for agreeing to this lunacy.”  She fixed him with a glare and he had the decency to look away.  “Now what are we going to do about Telford?  Camille and several of the others are already asking questions.  You’re not going to be able to keep this quiet for much longer.”

 

“That’s why I need your help.”

 

“You’ve taken Scott and Ronald into your confidence?” she asked, needing him to confirm her suspicions.  If she was going to help him – help Rush, she amended silently – she needed him to be honest with her.

 

“I have,” he said with a nod.  “Telford’s in containment as well.  I just have to get him to tell us what he knows.”

 

Belle closed her eyes and rubbed a weary hand over her brow, pushing her hair back.  “Everett, you need to remember one thing.  Telford is occupying Nicholas’s body.  You are not to harm it.  Do you understand?  Rush won’t appreciate returning to broken ribs or worse.”

 

“I can’t make any promises,” he replied glumly.  He and David were never able to remain in the same room for long without coming to blows.  Her eyes narrowed on him, the threat clear.  “I can try, though.”

 

She squared her shoulders and turned her back on him, heading for the door.  “Let me grab a kit from TJ, just to be on the safe side.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Telford paced angrily about the small storeroom as Young leaned against the bulkhead, his arms crossed over his chest.  “A spy, Everett?  A Lucian Alliance spy?” he asked incredulously.  A bitter laugh escaped his lips as he pointed an accusing finger in the colonel’s direction.  “You are so desperate to get back at me that you would say or do anything, wouldn’t you?”

 

Young eyed him steadily, betraying nothing of what he was feeling.  “We have proof.”  
  
“Oh, come on, Everett!” Telford scoffed. “This is all about me and Emily!”  
  
“Well, how do you think I found out about that? You switched bodies with Scott, do you remember _that_?” Young asked.  Telford stopped midstride and stared at him, a confused frown tugging at his mouth.  “Yeah. He's the one that told me. He saw it in his mind; a vision - call it residual memory, whatever you want. It seems that every time you use the stones, you leave a little something behind. Maybe ... maybe that's guilt. Maybe, deep down inside, you  _want_  the truth to come out.”

 

David shook his head in denial, continuing his pacing.  “You’re insane.”

 

Everett huffed a short bitter laugh.  “Well, you’ve already confessed, you just won’t admit.”  He turned on his heel and left the room, sealing it behind him.  Scott and Greer didn’t say a word, standing resolutely vigilant on either side of the door. 

 

Belle came into the dim light of the corridor and approached, a bowl of rations in one hand, a mug of tea in the other and a med bag slung over her shoulder.  “Where do you think you’re going with that?” Young asked, eyeing her suspiciously.

 

“Didn’t we just have this discussion?  I’m not concerned about Telford, but he is in _Rush’s_ body.  _His_ body is what I’m worried about.  It’s doing him no good to miss a meal.  Now stand aside so I can feed the blighter.”

 

Young rocked back on his heels as Greer snorted and Scott hid a snicker behind his hand.  “Fine.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Kiva’s goon held the taser to Rush’s chest and smiled as he depressed the button, the eerie red light sending another jolt of electrical impulses through the doctor.  Rush screamed, his body jerking spasmodically as his back arched up off the cold metal floor.  One word whispered frantically through his mind as he fought to hold onto his sanity.  One word giving him the courage and the strength to fight against the pain.  Belle…

 

“I’d really prefer not to have to do this,” Kiva said calmly, staring down impassively at him.  I wish I had time to convince you that I’m not what you think I am.”

 

Nicholas fought for breath, pulling a memory of Belle to the forefront of his mind.  The first time he’d ever seen her with her long chestnut hair bound severely in a bun, her wide cerulean eyes regarding him steadily behind her glasses as she held out her hand to clasp his as she introduced herself.  He never would have known the brilliance lurking in her mind.  He’d thought her another student there to waste his time.  _Keep your bloody mouth shut, Rush.  Belle…have to keep her safe…have to keep Destiny safe…Belle…Destiny…_

 

Rush finally regained enough control over his breathing to roll over onto his side and look up at her.  “Oh yeah?” he gasped.  “And what’s that?”

 

She regarded him coldly, her black eyes gleaming in the dim light of the cargo hold.  “I'm a reasonable person just trying to do what's right for my people.”  She paced around him.  “We have brainwashing technologies.  I could try those, but I’m not sure what they’d do to you under the circumstances, with your consciousness in somebody else’s body.  Unfortunately, I’ve learned one thing about torture over the years … it’s effective.”

Kiva nodded and her thug gave him another zap with the taser.  Rush screamed, the sound alien to his ears.  He wasn’t aware his throat could even make that sound, a cross between a wounded animal and a feral beast.  He tried to breathe through the pain, tried to focus on his memories of Belle.

 

“Barbaric, I know,” she continued, “and I hate lowering myself to this level, but I need to know who you are – and, beyond that, whether or not you’re of any use to me.”

 

Nicholas howled again as the taser touched his flesh, his back arching so severely he was surprised not to hear his spine snap in half.  There was no Belle now, no sweet memories to numb the pain, just searing agony and blinding torment.  His only comfort was the knowledge that if he died, Telford would too and he would no longer be a threat to Belle and his beloved ship.  He collapsed onto his stomach, breathing heavily, his chest heaving as he sucked much needed air into his starving lungs.

 

“This _will_ eventually kill you,” she said without a trace of emotion in her calm tone.

 

Nicholas whimpered softly, the blood feeling as hot as lava burning through his veins.  “You’ll be killing Telford too.”

“That might just work out for the best, given that he's been compromised. I have a full run-down of the personnel aboard  _Destiny_ , and I doubt very much that civilians or the scientists would have endured this, so the question is whether or not Colonel Young would have put himself in this situation or sent his first lieutenant, Scott.”  
  
“How d'you know I'm someone aboard  _Destiny_?” he panted, fighting through the waves of pain that wracked his body.  He doubted even Belle would be able to soothe away the hurt if he ever made it back to her.

 

“That’s a fair question.”  She nodded to her man and he zapped Rush again, the jolt lasting a bit longer this time.  “You _can_ make this stop.”

A ragged sob tore loose from his throat as he gasped for breath. “If I answer your question, you're gonna kill me. Either way, I'm dead.”  
  
“I won't. You have my word. You have nothing to lose,” she assured him.

 

Nicholas turned his head, leveling her with a searching look as he wondered whether he could believe her or not.  His vision swam in and out of focus and he could feel nausea churning in his gut.  He knew he didn’t have much longer if this continued.  Kiva looked down at him and then jerked her head to her goon, who powered up the taser again and reached out towards Rush again.

 

He held up a hand to ward him off.  “No!  Rush!” he sobbed, unable to withstand another jolt from the device.  “I’m Dr. Nicholas Rush!”  He closed his eyes in defeat, sending out a silent prayer to anyone who might be listening that Belle would somehow be able to forgive him for his cowardice.

 

Kiva arched a brow, her black eyes full of sinister glee as she looked down at him as if he were her new favorite toy.  “Well, well,” she murmured smugly.  “Dr. Rush … welcome to the Alliance.”

Kiva’s minion unchained Nicholas from the manacles and roughly hauled him up to hunch on his knees to face his commander.  The woman paid them little heed as she activated a little remote and brought up a holo-screen in the middle of the room.  Rush narrowed his eyes, watching the Ancient symbols flash by in rows and rows of code next to the image of a rotating planet.

 

“Recognize it?” she asked, unable to keep the smug satisfaction out of her voice.  “it’s your work, to do with dialing the ninth chevron that leads to Destiny, after all.”

 

Nicholas felt his nausea growing worse as he realized exactly why his life had been spared.  “These readings …”

 

“Similar naqahdria deposits.  We had some issues adapting the equations, but there should be enough power to get us there.”  For the first time since he’d met her, she smiled, and the gesture sent a cold chill tripping along his spine.

 

“You’ve found another Icarus planet,” he murmured in astonishment.  His efforts to protect his ship and the woman he loved had been in vain.  The only thing that would save them all now would be to sever the connection between the stones and send Telford back into his own body.  Without Rush they’d never be able to do what the woman and her misguided followers wanted.  And that was something he’d be a month’s rations on that Young would never do.

X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle leveled Scott with a look that clearly said she was in no mood for his military chain of command bullshit as he looked askance at Young for his permission to open the door.  She was sure he must have nodded as Scott sighed and released the lock, the door sliding open with a whoosh to allow her to enter.  She waited until it was closed once more before moving forward and setting the small meal down on the crate where he sat staring mutinously up at her.

 

“Dr. French,” he sneered, reaching for the cup and sniffing suspiciously at the brew.  “Young can’t keep me in here forever, y’know.  I have rights.”

 

A small smile curled her lips, a startling contrast to the iciness of her eyes.  “Everett can and will keep you here for as long as he likes, David,” she replied in a soft tone as she sat on a crate and clasped her hands in her lap.  “Things are different up here and the colonel feels he’s doing the best he can for us.”

 

“What do you think, Dr. French?  You’ve never been a fan of Young’s, and frankly I find this rather strange coming from you  I can’t even begin to fathom what he was thinking to take you into his confidence.”

 

She shrugged.  “It involves Nicholas and I seem to be the only person on board who has a vested interest in him.  Everett felt it was unavoidable.”

Her stomach clenched painfully as she stared into her Nicholas’s beloved sable eyes and had to listen to Telford use his silky voice.  “Everett will not give up, David.  He merely wants to protect those under his command.”  She tilted her head to the side and regarded him steadily.  “I’m sure he would help you if you simply told him what he wanted to know.  Frankly, I don’t care; I just want my Nicholas back.  But you’ve known the colonel long enough to know he’s a fair man.”

 

“I think I’d rather deal with you, Dr. French … Belle,” he smiled, turning on the charm.

 

Belle fought to keep her face impassive and keep the revulsion she felt for the man from showing.  “ _Dr. French_ is just fine, David, thank you.”

 

He waved a dismissive hand.  “If you want Rush back so badly, why don’t you just hurry along to the communications lab and disconnect the stones?”

 

“No one is pulling the plug on the stones, no matter how I might wish it,” she admitted ruefully.  “Why don’t you just admit what you’ve done so we can move on?  It will surely go easier on you if you appear willing to cooperate.”  She rose to stand beside the porthole, allowing the light from the FTL drive comfort and keep her calm.

 

She flinched as he hurled the metal dishes across the room to crash against the bulkhead, but otherwise she showed no emotion.  He sneered down at her as he headed for the door and pounded against the metal.  “I wanna talk to Scott.  I have a right to face my accuser.”

 

“This didn’t come from Scott, David.  You switched with Nicholas, remember?”

 

Young entered the room and Telford rounded furiously on him.  “Is that true?  Rush?  This is coming from _Rush_?!”  
  
“At first I didn't believe him either. I figured I'd give him enough rope to hang himself, but guess what? That didn't happen,” the colonel said, regarding the other man stoically.  “So we know that you are a traitor and a murderer.  The loss of life on Icarus due to the information you fed the Alliance should warrant a court-martial at the very least.  And now with your unwillingness to confess … well that just proves you’re a coward too.”

 

A scream of rage was the only sound to alert Belle before Telford tackled Young and surged forward, slamming the colonel against the bulkhead.  He landed a blow to Everett’s stomach and another across his face before Young was able to duck down and grab Telford around his legs, bearing him backwards onto the floor.  Belle screamed for Scott and the door whooshed open, the two officers charging into the room.

 

The two colonels struggled for a moment before Telford was able to roll them over so that he was on top, using the advantage of position to punch Young again.  Greer threw his weight against the man, sending him over and off of Young as Scott rushed to check on his superior.

 

“Alright that’s enough, you two!”  Scott growled, helping Young to his feet.

 

Belle wrapped her arms around Greer’s shoulders as he pummeled his fists into Telford’s face over and over again.  “Ronald!! Ronald, stop!  You’re hurting Rush!  Telford may be in there, but it’s still Nicholas!”

 

Scott came forward and ordered him off the man.  “Stand down, Sergeant!”  He grabbed an arm, but Greer flung him off.  “I said, stand down!”  Belle wrapped her arm about his throat and tightened her legs around his waist, bearing down on his windpipe.  Scott finally pulled him off and Belle let go, rolling out from beneath him as he gained his feet.

 

She grabbed the medical kit she’d dropped in the scuffle, and moved to Telford’s side, helping him sit up.  Young straightened his uniform jacket and turned on his two officers.  “Get out, both of you!”

 

“Sir—“  Scott protested, only to be cut off by another vicious snarl from the colonel.

 

“I said GET OUT!!”

 

They reluctantly left and Young was able to draw in a deep calming breath.  Belle glared menacingly at him as she reached for some surgical gauze in the kit and a bottle of antiseptic.  “What did I tell you, Everett? I don’t want Rush harmed, damnit!”

 

“He started it!”

 

She dabbed at the cuts on Telford’s face, relishing the hiss of pain that escaped his parted lips.  “This is not the playground, Colonel and last I checked we all were _not_ in grade school.  Show some fucking restraint!”  She gave a sharp tug on Telford’s nose as she dabbed at a cut there with the antiseptic.  “That goes for you too!”

 

“Thank you, Dr. French,” Everett said, casting her a stiff smile.

 

She packed up her kit and walked to the door.  “I’ll be just outside.  Hopefully I won’t have to patch up any more scrapes,” she warned.

 

“Ok.  So…“ Young said, turning back to face his former friend as the door closed behind Belle.  “Where were we?”

 

Telford leaned back heavily against the crate and tried to pull himself to his feet. “I want this connection cut and I wanna go back to my own body.”  
  
“No you don't,” Everett snorted.  “You're damaged goods. You go back now, your friends at the Alliance aren't gonna be too happy with you.”  
  
“I don't  _have_  any friends in the Alliance,” Telford growled as he finally got his feet under him and staggered up straight.  
  
“No, I don’t suppose you do...anymore.  Your only hope is with us. You come clean now, I will do my best to help you,” Everett said sincerely.  They’d been friends once, colleagues.  They’d been on more than one mission together, and he couldn’t let the Alliance win and let David pay the price no matter what personal issues he might have with the man.  
  
“I AM NOT A SPY, EVERETT! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU?”

The colonel rocked back on his heels, his hands clasped tightly behind his back.  He refused to let it rest.  “Let's talk about the outpost, P2S-569.”  
  
Telford resumed his pacing, feeling like a caged animal in the small space of the storeroom.  “We've been through this. I was cleared of any wrongdoing.”  
  
“Because they didn't have all the facts.”  
  
“I ... I couldn't blow my cover. I didn't have a choice!” David insisted, glaring at Young as he sat down wearily on one of the crates.  
  
“We already know you did it.”  He leaned forward to look carefully into David’s face as the man sat opposite him.  “But it’s possible you’re not responsible.  Think about it. I want you to think about it. Why is it that the memory transfer only happens with you and only you, and no-one else when they use the stones? They messed with your head, David. They made you think that you're one of them, and you're not. That's not you. Now, we can help you. We can bring you back, but I need you to take the first step. You tell us where they're taking Rush.”

 

Telford’s face closed off as he glowered at Young, his lips tightly compressed into a grim line.

 

“David, tell me.”

  
X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle groaned as she spotted Camille coming towards them down the corridor leading to the storeroom where they were holding Telford.  Greer and Scott, who had been peering through the small window on the door, turned at the sound and shared an eye roll for the IOA representative.

 

Belle held a hand up to her friends as they stepped forward.  “It’s ok, guys.  I got this.”  She stepped out of their little alcove and met Camille halfway.  “Camille.  What can I do for you?” she asked, clasping her hands non-threateningly before her.

 

“Huh,” Camille said disparagingly.  “There’s a lot of talk around the ship about what’s going on in that room.

 

“This is a military matter, ma’am.  It doesn’t concern you,” Greer said quietly, coming up to stand behind Belle.

 

“That's exactly the kind of talk that forced us to try and take control of this ship once before, Sergeant,” she snarled.

 

Belle stepped in front of Greer as he took a threatening step forward.  She didn’t need an altercation between the two when things were already more precarious than she’d like.  “Camille, what Ronald is trying to say is that this doesn’t concern the health, vitality or mental stability of any of the civilian population aboard Destiny.  This is personal between Colonel Young and Colonel Telford and the less people involved, the better.”

 

“If this is _personal_ as you say, _Dr_. French, then what is _your_ business here?  You don’t like either of them so I don’t see why you would be needed in this matter.”

 

Belle bit her lip, smiling at the same time.  Never a good sign, that.  “Someone has to protect Nicholas’s interests, _dearie_ ,” she sneered.  “Should things become heated, I want to make sure Rush has a body to return to.”

 

Camille turned her fulminating glare on Scott.  “Do you want the rumors to spread, or do you wanna do something about it?  
  
“It'll be over soon enough. That is all you need to know,” Scott answered, refusing to give her any more than that.  
  
“See, that's the wrong answer,” Camille continued to push. “Come on, Lieutenant. Something tells me that you do not want this on your conscience. Better be careful. Whatever it is, we all have to live with it.”

 

“Then it’s good that you aren’t a part of this,” Belle said in a soft tone, her voice belying the seething anger humming beneath her skin.  If there was one person other than Young she’d love to see booted off the ship, it would be Camille Wray.  She backtracked, remembering Everett’s willingness to let her be involved in this and reconsidered her earlier thought.  There was _no one_ she’d rather see booted off faster than the IOA representative.

 

The door whooshed open and Everett stepped out into the corridor, sealing it behind him.  “I need to communicate with Stargate Command.  Belle?  Would you join me please?” he asked, taking in the strife playing out before him.  He figured it would be best to separate the two women before it came to blows.  He had no doubt Belle would be the victor in such a scenario and then he’d be called to task by O’Neil for not preventing the hostilities.  When did his life become so complicated?

 

“Do we let him out?” Scott asked, frowning at his commander.

 

“Nobody in or out.  That is an order,” Everett said matter-of-factly.

“I want to talk to him!” Camille called after Young as he set off down the corridor, Belle at his side.  He ignored her and hurried towards the communications lab.  “Colonel!”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Volker rushed into the control interface room and came to stand behind Eli and Brody, having raced from the communications room where he’d been able to hide  a Kino.  “Are we getting footage?  What’s happening?”

 

Brody shook his head.  “I don’t know.  Good work, by the way.”

 

“What’s Belle doing in there?” Eli asked, looking between the footage and the two men.  “I knew it!  I knew she knew more than she was telling us!”

 

Brody rolled his eyes.  “When doesn’t Belle know something – _everything ­-_ that happens aboard this dingy?”

 

He looked down at the Kino footage as Riley lifted one of the three stones on the activation box and moved it away.  Young and Corporal Marsden sat with him while Belle looked on from the corner by the door, ready to return to Telford’s storeroom.

 

“Young’s been back and forth on the stones all day,” Brody said, his voice falling into a conspiratorial tone.

 

“Looks like this time he brought someone back with him,” Volker said, frowning down at the screen.  “Who do you think it is?”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle resumed her position against the bulkhead outside of Telford’s prison, arms crossed over her chest and one knee bent so it could rest against the wall.  For all intents and purposes, she looked calm and relaxed when inside she was screaming.  She hadn’t felt like this in longer than she cared to remember, when she was a prisoner in Regina’s tower and there was no outlet for her rage and desperation.  It didn’t help that Camille had remained with Scott and Greer while she’d accompanied Everett to the communications lab.  Her heart clenched as she watched the door anxiously.  It did _not_ bode well that Everett had thought it necessary to bring the general on board.

 

In his cell, Telford raised his gaze to the two men as the doors whooshed open.  He glowered at Young as they came to a stop before him.  “Who’s this?” he sneered.

 

“General O’Neil,” Jack said, glancing between the two colonels under his command.

 

Telford arched a dubious brow.

 

“It’s really him, David,” Young confirmed.

 

David warily rose to his feet and straightened the fatigue jacket he wore.  “Let’s say it’s true and you really are General O’Neil … General, I’m being held without charge; I’ve been denied counsel…” he pointed an accusatory finger at Young, “…and one of his men assaulted me.”  
  
“David. He knows. He authorized it.”

 

“Well,” Jack said, casting a disapproving look at Young.  “Maybe not that last part there.”  
  
“This is what I've been trying to tell you, David,” Young said, trying to give him one last chance to confess.

 

Jack nodded.  “Time to come clean, son.  We need to know where they’ve taken Dr. Rush.”

 

Telford put his hands on his hips and half turned away from them, thinking quickly.  “You checked out that Gate address I gave you?”  
  
“Oh yeah. Dead end.”  Jack turned to Young.  “Daniel led the team and can I just tell you … he was _not_ amused.”

 

Telford turned and smiled smugly at the colonel.  “You didn’t think I’d give you anything real, did you?” he asked, a maniacal gleam lighting his dark eyes.  It was nothing compared to the smirking snarl curling his lips back from his teeth as he laughed.  “You should see your face. You look  _so_  surprised.  
  
“Actually, I'm disappointed. You may not believe this, but I was really holding a hope that it might not be true; that it was some other explanation,” Everett said, rocking back on his heels as he stared worriedly at his former friend.

“Doesn't matter. You can't stop it.”  
  
“Stop what?” Jack asked, glaring at the man.

“You think I was brainwashed? I came to my senses,” Telford hissed, his speech taking on a fanatical cast. “We freed billions of people from thousands of years of slavery all over our galaxy - and then we patted ourselves on the back and left them with little or no means for survival. What the hell did we  _think_  was going to happen?”  
  
Young shook his head in denial.  “This isn't you, David.”  
  
“Wake up, Everett! You think the Lucian Alliance are just a bunch of criminals? Who made us judge and jury?  People will do what they have to do to survive.  _You_  should know that by now.  We take whatever we want. We do whatever is good for  _us_ , regardless of the impact on other planets. What makes us so special?” David ranted.  
  
“I know what makes  _me_  special,” Jack snarked, shrugging apologetically as Telford cast him a stare filled with disgust.

 

“This is not our ship. It wasn't intended for us!”  
  
“Where are they taking Rush?” Young persisted in an even tone, knowing he couldn’t afford to lose his temper again.  
  
“It was supposed to be for the benefit of all mankind,” David breathed zealously.  “And now that they have Rush … it will take no time for that dream to become a reality.”  
  
“Wow. He's more far gone than I thought, General.”  
  
Jack sighed dejectedly. He’d really hoped Young had just been blowing smoke about their colleague due to the bitterness between them.  “Yeah, I've heard enough. Go ahead and do what you need to do.”

 

With a nod in the general’s direction, Young raised his radio from his belt and called the communication lab, ordering Riley to disconnect Jack from the stones and then dismissing Marsden from the room as he returned to his own body.  
  
He followed Marsden from the room and signaled Greer to close and seal the door.  Camille stormed over to him, highly indignant.  “OK, this has gone on long enough. You have to cut the connection.

 

“I can't do that.”

 

“Dr. Rush's life is in danger. That's more important than getting any intel on the Lucian Alliance.”  She whirled on Belle.  “How could _you_ let him do such a thing?  You claim to _love_ Rush, yet –“

 

Camille reeled back drunkenly as Belle’s hand connected sharply with her left cheek.  “Don’t you _ever_ make little of what I feel for Nicholas.  You know _nothing_!” Belle hissed threateningly.  She shot a dark look at Scott before meeting Everett’s stunned gaze.  “Your boy there has a big mouth.”

 

“I just thought maybe it would be better off if she knew, sir,” Scott mumbled, ducking his head in shame.

 

Young lifted his radio to his mouth.  “Control Room, this is Young.”  
  
“This is Brody,” came the engineer’s reply.  
  
“Bring up the life support controls for this section.”

 

Brody walked over to Eli’s console and nudged him gently aside, taking his seat and working the controls rapidly to pull up the system Young had requested.  “I got it.”

 

In the corridor, Scott watched Young’s expression warily, stepping closer as Young spoke again into the radio.  “Begin venting the atmosphere in Colonel Telford’s quarters … now.”  
  
“What?!” Camille shrieked.  
  
“Sir!” Scott cried in alarm.  
  
“Say again?” Brody squawked over the open link, certain he’d heard the command wrong.

  
“Begin venting Colonel Telford's quarters now.  That is an order, Mr. Brody.”

 

In the control interface room, the three men looked nervously at the console.  Eli shook his head slightly in denial.  “It’s gotta be a bluff … right? To scare him?” he stammered, unwilling to believe the colonel would murder a fellow soldier.  “There’s got to be more to this!”

 

Brody stared grimly at the console, torn between what he thought was right and following the colonel’s orders.  His finger hovered indecisively over the button.

 

Volker started forward, his hand outstretched in panic.  “Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa!”

 

“Look, you can't ...” Eli protested, his voice catching as he stared in stunned disbelief.  “It’ll kill him!”  He reached to lift Brody’s hand away from the console, but the engineer pushed him away, his eyes never leaving the button.  Volker stared at him in horror as Brody took a deep breath and pushed the button.

Belle collapsed against Greer, his arms going around her waist, his hands soothing over her back.  She was numb.  She knew if Telford refused to cooperate the next step the colonel took would be dire.  Greer’s comforting embrace was the only thing to keep her upright.  “Everett?” she called to him, her eyes pleading and filled with tears as he turned to meet her gaze.  “Please, Everett, don’t do this!”

 

“What the hell are you doing?!” Camille shrieked in outraged disbelief.

 

“Camille, stay out of this,” Young growled as he stepped up to the door and peered through the window.  “David! David, can you hear me?  David! I'm venting the atmosphere in your room. You've got five minutes before you die of suffocation.  Your only hope is to tell me the location of the Alliance base.”  
  
“You're bluffing. Kill me and you kill Rush,” David blustered, inching towards the door, the icy hand of fear clenching his gut.  
  
“I know ... but right now, I'm thinking of the greater good. So … what's it gonna be?”

 

Telford glared at him through the window for a moment and slammed his hand angrily against the doors.  He hadn’t really thought Young had the balls to do something like this.  Apparently, he’d been wrong.  Slowly, without letting his eyes leave Young’s for a second, he backed away from the doors, refusing to let the other man see the fear in his eyes.  
  
Belle sobbed quietly against Greer’s jacket, her face buried in his chest.  “Everett, you promised,” she wailed.  “You promised you’d let no harm come to Nicholas.”

 

Young ground his teeth together, refusing to acknowledge anything but the task before him.  Telford charged towards the door, his courage fleeing in the face of his imminent death.  “No! Open this damn door!  We both know you're not gonna kill me!”

 

“Colonel!” Belle wept, unable to escape the firm hold Greer had on her.  “Everett, no!”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Sorry for the cliffie, dearies! Seriously, I wouldn’t have done it if that wasn’t how the episode had ended. For those who don’t know already, I had an accident (my son accidentally slammed my hand in the car door) and I’m having to type with one hand. Ugh!! So there is a possibility that the next chapter will be delayed. I hate only typing with one freakin hand!! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, however. I will endeavor to peck out the next chapter as soon as possible. Love to you all! Thanks so much for reading!


	19. Incursion Part 1

Chapter Nineteen: Incursion Part 1

 

 

David pounded on the door, a note of desperation coloring his muted cries.  “Young!  Open this damn door!”

 

Belle pushed away from Greer, tears silently coursing down her face as she clasped tightly to the medical kit in her hand, squaring her shoulders with determination.  She had to remain strong.  She’d agreed to this risky plan and she couldn’t let anything prevent them from following through … even her love and desire to protect Rush.  Young wouldn’t do it – she had to believe that - he wouldn’t really hurt her Nicholas.   If she gave in to her fears, she’d surely lose what slim shred of sanity she clung to. Telford would cave and give them the information they needed and everything would be fine.

 

“We both know you’re not going to kill me!” David continued to scream through the door.  


Young looked at him calmly through the viewing window, unblinking, his face resolute.  Telford pulled at the collar of his fatigue jacket, the air thinning and making it more difficult for him to breathe.  He frantically pounded on the wall panel beside the doors, giving the bulkhead a hearty kick.

 

In the alcove, Camille made a mad dash forward and grabbed the radio from Scott’s belt.  “Mr. Brody, this is Wray.  You need to restore the atmosphere …”

 

Belle yanked the radio from the waistband of her pants and ordered, “This is Belle.  Disregard that request.”  She planted her palm in the center of the woman’s chest and backed her into the cool metal behind her.  “Stay out of this!” she hissed furiously, her eyes flashing hotly.

 

Camille pushed against her restraining hand, but was unable to budge her.  “By letting this happen, you are participating in not only the murder of Colonel Telford, but Dr. Rush as well.  How could you?!  He loves you, Belle.”

 

Greer’s arms wrapped around Belle’s waist, pulling her off of the small Asian woman before she could slap her again.  


In his cell, Telford stumbled, already suffering from oxygen deprivation.  Young grinded his teeth together over the man’s stubbornness as Scott pulled on his sleeve to gain his attention.  “Ok, sir, you’ve made your point,” the lieutenant said, a note of desperation in his voice.

 

“I’m not trying to make a point,” Young replied without turning to meet the man’s eyes.  “I know what I’m doing.”

 

“What you’re doing is killing him!”

 

“I know that, Lieutenant.”  


In the cell, Telford clutched at his throat as he fell to his knees.  He shook his head in denial, gasping.  He clawed at his throat, desperate to draw in another lungful of air that wasn’t there to preserve his life.  His battle to breathe forced him to the cool metal floor, his eyes closing as he drew in … nothing.

 

Belle bounced anxiously on the balls of her feet next to the colonel, her gaze flitting between the door and Camille to make certain she didn’t try anything else that would jeopardize what they were doing.  She wrapped her arm about her waist, her fingers digging into her sides as if she were trying to hold herself together to keep from shattering into a million pieces.  She clung to the medical bag in her other hand as if it were a lifeline.  If something went wrong … how would she ever be able to live with herself?

 

“Alright now, sir, I cannot –“ Scott warned, but Greer seized him by his jacket and pushed him back away from the door.

 

Camille covered her eyes with a shaking hand and turned away in anguish as Telford's painful breaths continued, the sound reverberating through the alcove. Young watched through the window as Telford laid on the floor staring at the ceiling, his breaths becoming slower and shallower. He writhed and twitched as the last of the air ran out and gradually his breathing ceased and his chest stopped moving. His eyes became fixed, their sightless orbs staring into nothing.

 

Young turned away from the door and shared a pointed look with Belle.  “Count it down,” he commanded softly, pacing away as Camille hurried towards the window to peer inside.  Greer let her go this time, not standing in her way.

 

She gazed into the room in appalled disbelief for several long seconds before turning back to Young, staring at him as if she didn’t know who he was anymore.  “You’ve killed him,” she murmured in a horrified whisper.  
  
Scott bit his lip, valiantly fighting back the tears stinging at the corners of his eyes as Belle silently counted off the seconds.  She held her radio firmly in her other hand, her thumb hovering over the com button.  When the second hand on her watch reached twenty five, she activated the radio.  “Brody!”

 

In the control room, Brody slammed his hand down on the console, not questioning Belle’s authority and air began to rush back into Telford’s cell.  The moment the pressure equalized, Belle slammed her hand down onto the door release and hurried into the room, Young at her side.  She shoved Young out of her way, dropping at Telford’s side, clearing his airway as Young straddled his waist and began to pump his chest.  He stopped and Belle lowered her head, covering his familiar lips with hers and blowing precious air into his lungs.  She nodded and Young began again, hoping the CPR would revive the man.

 

Tears streamed down her face as she gazed down at Rush, disregarding the fact that it was just his body playing host to their traitor.  It was still the man that had held her up and put her back together after she’d lost so much.  It was still the man she curled into in the dead of night, the man who chased away her nightmares and held her tightly to his chest, who comforted and protected her from all manner of harm.  He was hers and she’d allowed this happen to him.  She should have disconnected the stones when she’d had the chance and be damned what Young said.

 

“Please, please, Nicholas.  P-Please come back,” she pleaded as Young continued to administer CPR.

 

“Come on, David, come on!” the colonel rasped, breathing heavily as he worked.

 

Camille and Scott watched anxiously from the doorway as the two worked frantically to restore the fallen colonel’s vitals while Greer stood by ready to lend assistance wherever needed.

 

Finally, Telford heaved in a huge lungful of air, his head lifting off the floor as he gasped.  Young cradled his friend, his arm wrapping around his shoulders to support him as he continued to regain his bearings.  “Y-You’re all in danger,” he breathed out raspily.

 

“What?” Young asked, barely able to make out what the man was saying.

 

“They're coming.”  
  
“Who's coming here, David?” Belle asked, still kneeling at his other side.  
  
“The Lucian Alliance. They're coming to take Destiny.”  He grabbed hold of Young’s jacket to emphasize his urgency, his dark eyes filled to overflowing with fear.

 

Everett raised his troubled gaze to Belle’s just in time to see her fist flying towards his nose.  He dropped Telford and landed on his arse, his hand coming up to cover the wounded appendage.  “Jesus, woman!  You’ve got to stop doing that!”

 

Belle climbed angrily to her feet, pointing a finger in his direction.  “You promised not to hurt him, Everett!  You’ve beaten him, locked him up – would have let him starve if I hadn’t intervened – and then - then you fucking killed him!  You deserve much worse.  Now we have invaders to contend with.  I hope you’re bloody well happy!”

 

Young removed a worn handkerchief from his back pocket to staunch the flow of blood, wincing as he looked up at her.  “This propensity towards violence you have, Dr. French –“

 

“Only shows itself when you threaten me and mine,” she finished for him.  “You’ve gotten what you wanted … now disconnect the bloody stones and give me back my Nicholas.”

 

“If I disconnect the stones and send David back to his own body, they’ll kill him.  I can’t in good conscience do that.”

 

“But you wouldn’t hesitate to leave Nicholas in their clutches, would you?!  You don’t even know what kind of torture they’ve no doubt visited upon him,” she cried, tears streaming down her face which she swiped away angrily.  “All for the greater good?  You don’t give a damn about the greater good unless it benefits _you_ , Everett!”

 

Greer stepped between them as Young rose shakily to his feet and helped Telford up, knowing Belle’s tenuous hold on her temper was about to break free.  He could see it in the stiffening of her spine and the clenching of her fists.  Nothing could set her off quicker than seeing someone she loved in danger.  “I hate to break up this party, but if we have uninvited guests on the way, shouldn’t we be preparing a welcoming committee?”

 

“You’re right, sergeant,” Young acknowledged with a slow nod, trying to ignore the pain in his throbbing nose.  “You and Scott rally the troops while I take David to the infirmary so TJ can have a look at him.”  He lowered his voice.  “Take Dr. French with you.  Perhaps if she’s armed, she can take out some of her hostilities on the enemy.”

 

“Everett, she’s part of the science team.  What can she do against trained mercenaries?” Telford asked with a snort, holding tightly to his bruised ribs.

 

Greer chuckled.  “Piss her off, colonel, and you’ll find out quick enough.”

 

Young groaned as Greer led a protesting Belle out of the room, Scott falling in behind them.  “Camille, you might want to gather the civilians and prepare them for what’s coming.  I’ll be making an announcement shortly.”  He just hoped he hadn’t played his hand prematurely and doomed them all.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Young stood at the console in the control room and sighed, nodding at Brody to activate the comms, his heart heavy with what he had to say.  “This is Colonel Young.  We’ve been informed that this ship faces an incursion by armed forces of the Lucian Alliance, the group responsible for the attack on Icarus Base.  All military personnel on board have been placed on high alert.  If the enemy has acquired the means to dial Destiny, their point of ingress will be the stargate.”

 

Eli listened with half an ear as he watched Volker and Park shut down the consoles in the gate room and secure the room.  No access to the ship’s systems could be attained from that room and several Kinos had been placed in optimum locations.  He sealed the doors as they made their way out, locking and coding them as an extra measure of security.

 

“So, the gate room is off limits.  All surrounding corridors have been placed in lockdown.  No one may enter without proper authorization.”

 

Eli flipped through several Kino feeds, making certain the military had cleared each of the corridors of any stragglers wishing to get in on the action.

 

“I have provided Homeworld Security with intel on the planet from which the Lucian Alliance intends to launch their assault.  They are dispatching forces as I speak,” Everett continued.  “In the best case scenario, Earth forces take the launch point intact and we gain a supply line from home. The worst case scenario is that our forces don't make it before the attack is launched, in which case we'll have to deal with them on our end. In that event, all non-military personnel will be ordered back to your quarters where you will remain until the situation has been resolved. Make no mistake - this will be dealt with swiftly and decisively. Thank you. That is all.”

 

Scott was waiting for him as he left the control room.  “What in the hell was that back there?” he asked, barely restraining the fury he felt at what he saw as a betrayal by his commanding officer.

 

Young smirked at the man.  “What in the hell was that, _sir_?”

 

“All you had to do was tell me,” Matthew ground out between tightly clenched teeth.  
  
Young picked up his pace, needing to visit the armory to collect his gear. “I was keeping you out of it.”  
  
“You didn't have to.”  He put a restraining hand on Young’s shoulder, forcing him to stop.  “If I had known that killing him and bringing him back was the only way to beat that brainwashing technology, I'd have been behind you one hundred percent.”  
  
Young looked taken aback.  “So you'll follow orders as long as I explain everything to you beforehand?”  
  
“No, sir, that is not what I meant.”  
  
“Well, that's good, because if it  _was_ , we'd have a problem, lieutenant. Do we have a problem?” he asked, giving the man an assessing glare. 

 

Scott met his gaze for a few moments before casting his eyes downward, admitting defeat. “No, sir.”  
  
“Good!  ‘Cause now's not the time for that.”

 

“And you felt you could trust Dr. French more than me, I suppose,” he grumbled, turning away with a sullen frown marring his brow.

 

Everett stopped.  “What was that, lieutenant?”

 

“Nothing, _sir_.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle cast a narrow-eyed glare over at Young – where he was having a private chat with Telford – as she came into the infirmary carrying a tactical vest and two sidearms for TJ.  Just because the woman was pregnant didn’t mean she had forgotten how to defend herself.  Now she had even more reason to do so.  She held it out for her friend to slip into and smiled wanly.  “You, dearie, need to take a break.  I’ll help you if need be, but you need to rest those swollen feet.”

 

“I’m fine,” she assured her, buckling the clasps on the vest and checking the clips on the handguns before securing them in place.  She gave the other woman a level look.  “Belle … you’re doing it again.”

 

“Crud!” Belle swore, her shoulders slumping a little.  “I am, aren’t I?  I’m sorry, Tamara, I don’t mean to hover.  I’m just worried for you and the baby.”

 

“It’s ok, don’t worry.  Everett’s a good leader.  He won’t let the Alliance take the ship.”

 

Belle arched a brow, clearly stating without words how much faith – or lack thereof – she had in the colonel’s ability to see them through this.  Instead of arguing with her very pregnant friend, however, she opted to change the subject, waving a lazy hand in Telford’s direction.  “How is David?  What can Rush expect if … _when_ … he returns to his body?”

 

TJ winced, knowing Belle wasn’t going to like what she had to report.  “Several lacerations to his face and head, contusions to his ribs and sternum and what appears to be a bruised kidney, but I can’t be sure without an MRI and I don’t have one here on Destiny.”

 

“In other words, he needs to take it easy for at least a week, right?” Belle asked, shaking her head.  “Like that’s going to happen.”

 

Young made his way over to them, giving Belle a wide berth as he inched closer to TJ.  “Can I interrupt you two for just a moment?” he asked, relieved when Belle waved them off and went to check on Telford herself.  “Tamara, listen,” he began, resting his hands on her shoulders, his thumbs grazing gently against her neck.  “When they come, I want you to stay here in the infirmary where it’s safe.”

  
“ _Safe_?” she snorted, casting him a look of incredulity.    
  
“Look, if they break containment, there could be wounded. We're gonna need you.”  
  
“What we'll need is a  _real_  doctor,” she argued.  
  
“You're up for this,” he assured her in a measured tone meant to soothe her fears.    
  
 “Not even close,” she said, shaking her head.  “What are you planning to do?”  
  
 “Evacuate the atmosphere in the gate room the minute they step through.”  
  
She looked up at him, her lips parting on a gasp of horror. “Kill them all, you mean?”  
  
“You think I have a choice?”  
  
“If you're asking for forgiveness, I can't help you there either.”  Her hands rose to smooth over his jacket, her fingers toying with a loose thread on a button.  “Just be safe, Everett … please,” she said, unable to meet his eyes, worried he would see the fear in hers.  “I … I don’t want to raise this child without you.”

 

He pressed his lips to her brow, his arms wrapping tightly about her back as he drew her into his embrace.  “I’m not going anywhere without you … either of you.”

 

She huffed a soft ironic laugh.  “That’s reassuring.”

 

“You know what I meant.”

 

“Don’t worry.  Belle’s staying with me and Telford might be of some assistance if needed.  I’ll be fine.”  She smiled cheekily up at him and stepped out of his embrace, making her way over to her only patient.

 

“TJ …”

 

“Go … I’ll be fine.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

 

Kiva’s henchman bundled Rush into the gate room, shoving him towards his mistress and Varro.  Rush held tightly to his bleeding hand, still trying to clear his head, his shoulders hunched in pain.  She grinned that sneering smirk he was coming to loathe.  “You’re back,” she greeted brightly.  Rush looked down at the long cut on the back of his left hand, still oozing droplets of crimson.  “That was me.”  Rush simply glowered at her.  “I had to see whether you were faking.”

 

“Well, I wasn’t,” he snapped tetchily, his voice raspy and hoarse from his brush with death.

 

“I apologize,” she said, the grin she wore never matching the coldness emanating from her eyes.  She was like a viper, cold, sleek and always ready to strike.  She regarded him silently until he seemed to get her message.

 

“Back to work, I know,” he grumbled, watching her warily should she decide any moment to end him.  He knew he had to tread carefully, needing to survive if for no other reason than to thwart her efforts to gain access to Destiny and his Belle.  He had to protect them both.  Slowly, he made his way toward the short set of stairs leading up to the lab and accepted a bandage from Kiva’s goon, the small measure of kindness bringing a cold sneer to the man’s face.  He shuddered, one thought seeming to repeat over and over through the haze clouding his mind … why hadn’t Young disconnected the stones?

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

High above the planet, the USS Hammond emerged from hyperspace, settling into an orbit around it, the ship’s computer immediately running planetary scans.

 

Colonel Carter whistled lowly through her teeth as she took in the readings and turned to report over the video comm that linked her with HWC.  “Sir, it looks like the intel Telford gave us is good.  The planet’s laced with naqahdria deposits.  We’re also reading a huge energy signature emanating from what looks like a pyramid.  Unfortunately the complex inside is shielded against beaming technology.”  
  
“So Rush can't be beamed out,” O’Neil murmured, his voice laden with disappointment.  
  
“No, sir,” she confirmed.  “We'll have to go in with ground forces from the outside.”  
  
O’Neil nodded his consent.  “All right, Colonel. You have a go.”

 

With a nod to her first officer, she deployed a squadron of F-302 fighters, which headed down to the planet’s surface, their instructions clear … get Rush and try not to blow up the planet before they could gain some use from it.

 

X*X*X*X*X  
  

Rush grabbed onto the table housing his computers to steady himself as the pyramid rocked violently under a blast of enemy fire.  Finally, Young must have broken Telford and gotten the traitor to reveal the location of the enemy base.  He knew there were few options for him, however.  He would either die, or he would be rescued … preferably before he was forced to do something that would damn them all.

 

Kiva rushed into the lab area.  “We’re under attack.  Can we dial the ninth chevron?”

 

Rush glanced between the computer and the cold imperturbable woman before him, his heart beating wildly in fear.  He couldn’t let her have access to Destiny.  “Not without blowing everything up.”

 

She stabbed him with a steely-eyed glare, her mouth pursed into a moue of displeasure before turning to Calvos and ordering, “Dial it.”  She knew he would not hesitate to follow her commands.  She leaned over the balcony, looking down into the gate room.  “Get ready!  We’re going _now_!”  
  
Calvos activated the sequence on the computer and the stargate engaged, beginning to dial out.  Everyone below hurried to grab their gear and arm themselves, knowing it would come to a fight once they traveled through the wormhole and boarded the Ancient ship. 

 

Rush felt his heart drop somewhere in the region of his feet as the event horizon whooshed outward and settled back into the puddle.  His jaw clenched, his lips pressing into a thin line of rage.  If Young had just disconnected the stones, he wouldn’t have been forced to do the Alliance’s bidding in an effort to save his own life.  Now Belle and his beloved ship were in danger and there was little he could do about it.

 

Kiva turned back to Rush, her smile smugly triumphant before calling out to her forces.  “Go!  Radio back when you reach the other side.”  She nodded to Koz, waving a lazy hand towards the scientist.  “And take him with you.”  


The man seized Rush by the arm, giving him little choice in the matter and led him off towards the gate.  


As Alliance crewmembers begin streaming through Destiny’s gate room and take up defensive positions, Eli, reached for his radio to alert the colonel of what he’d seen over the live Kino feed, his voice shaky with alarm.  “Colonel Young!”

 

In the control interface room, Brody at his side, Young reached for his own radio as he watched the feed on the console.  “I see them, Eli,” he answered.  Brody switched on the ship wide comm.  “All personnel report to your designated areas.  This is _not_ a drill.  Defense teams stand by.”  He gave the engineer his full attention once more.  “Which button?”

 

“This one.”  Brody pointed it out on the colonel’s right.  “It shouldn’t take but a couple minutes to reach vacuum.”

 

Everett poised his hand over the button, concentrating on the video feed coming over the console screen as he watched the Lucian Alliance members scramble through the wormhole.  If only there had been some way to get Telford to break before it was too late.  He ignored the niggling voice in the back of his mind telling him over and over again that he wasn’t fit for command.  He’d always had his doubts and insecurities to plague him and never more so than in the heat of battle.  His hand descended towards the button as he took a deep breath, hoping he’d be able to live with the deaths of those men and women he was about to bring to an end.

 

“Colonel,” Brody said, drawing his attention to the man who’d just come through the stargate, using the Kino to zoom in for a closer view.

 

Young hesitated.  He’d already killed David Telford once that day and he debated whether or not he could do it again.  His hand curled into a fist over the button, lingering momentarily before he finally drew away as he realized he couldn’t do it.  He reached for his radio and pressed the comm button.  “Defense teams, stand by to secure prisoners on my order.”

 

Squad leaders all over the ship sent back affirmative answers, some with varying tones of confusion as he went back on the orders he’d previously given and stalked out of the control room.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

 

Belle grabbed an empty pack from the storage cabinet and tossed it to TJ as she dove into the supply closet and grabbed and armload of bandages.  She dropped them onto the table where TJ hurriedly stuffed them into the pack.  “I can’t believe he didn’t vent the gate room!  What the hell is he thinking!?” she hissed, going back for more supplies.  “They’re probably fully armed and here we are working with what little ammo we brought with us from Icarus.”

 

TJ shook her head, fighting off the tremors in her hands as she worked.  “I don’t know.  Something had to have changed his mind.”  She pointed to the glass cabinet to Belle’s left.  “Make sure you grab what’s left of our medicinals.  I have a few vials of Morphine left and if there’s a fight we very well may need them.”

 

“What happened?” came a raspy Scottish brogue.

 

Belle glanced over at him as she continued with her task.  “We’re packing up to move further into the ship.  We’re too close to the gate room should the Lucian’s break through.”  She snorted.  “It wouldn’t hurt you to get off your ass, Colonel and help us.”

 

“Belle … _mo chroí_ , it’s me.”

 

She barely had time to gasp before he was off the gurney and wrapped about her, his face buried in her long unbound hair.  “N-Nicholas?” she whispered brokenly, her hands rising to delve into his hair to clasp him tightly to her.  He nodded jerkily, his fingers digging painfully into her hips as he held on.  _“How are you even here?”_ she asked, slipping easily into Ancient.  She was ever mindful of the fact that they weren’t alone.

 

He answered her readily, finally lifting his head to look at her.  _“The connection with Telford was severed as I came through the gate.  Are you alright?”_ he winced as a sharp pain burned his chest. _“For that matter … am I?”_

 

Belle stepped back a pace, her eyes glinting dangerously as they narrowed on him.  _“Be thankful this ship is under attack and I don’t have time to focus on just how bloody furious I am with you.”_

_“Mo chroí …”_ he protested, but she quickly cut him off, simply leaving him standing there to help TJ finish packing up what they would need to take with them.  “ _Belle, please.  I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you before I left Destiny.  I_ –“

 

She sent him a fulminating glare as she stuffed more supplies into her pack and zipped it up.  “ _Not one word, Rush.  Let’s wait to see if we make it through the next several hours and then we’ll talk.  Until then, I have nothing to say to you.”_

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Scott eyed his commanding officer steadily as he moved to their position outside the gate room.  “Colonel.”

 

“They’ve brought Rush along with them.  We’re going to have to do this the hard way,” he said, checking his weapon and taking up a defensive position, his radio clutched loosely in his other hand.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Kiva turned her furious gaze on Telford – still believing him to be Rush - drawing her weapon on him.  “What did you do to the gate?” she accused hotly.  “You killed over a hundred of my men!”

 

David held up his hands defensively, realizing how easily it would be for her to end him in that moment.  He knew she wouldn’t have any qualms about putting a bullet in his head.  “It wasn’t me; it was Rush!”

 

She slid her hand over the top of the glock, pulling back the cocking mechanism and loading a bullet into the chamber before pointing it at his head, clearly disbelieving him.  “Masson!  Masson – your father’s name.  It was my password.  Gate travel must have severed the link.  It’s _me_.”

 

“Telford?”

 

Young’s voice coming over the ship’s comms interrupted her from further interrogating him.  “Lucian Alliance forces. You are surrounded and sealed in. You will also find the iantel provided by Colonel Telford is now useless.  Lay down your weapons in front of the doors and step back into the center of the room with your hands on your heads, or we will vent the entire compartment to space.”  
  
“Can they do it?” she asked, her soulless eyes narrowing on him as he nodded.  “Then they _should_ have.”  She jerked her head at Varro, who signaled several of their crew to begin procedures for breaking through the locks.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

“Colonel, they’re up to something,” Brody reported over his radio as he carefully monitored the invaders through the Kino feed.  “They’ve got something to open the doors.”

 

“Vent the atmosphere in the gate room, Brody. Do it now,” Young ordered, crouching low beside Scott.

 

“Too late!”

 

The device they used on the door whirred noisily, disengaging the locks and the doors slid open, allowing the enemy to toss several small metallic objects into the corridors to clear their way.  
  
“Take cover!” Scott yelled, grabbing Young by the collar of his jacket and pulling him out of the way.  “Grenade!”

 

Vanessa let off a stream of gunfire, calling to her subordinates to get back.  In their various positions, the defense teams opened fire as the grenades exploded, plumes of smoke filling the corridors and making it nearly impossible to see more than three feet ahead.  The Alliance members rushed into the corridor, returning fire and it was Young’s turn to grab his first lieutenant, shoving him off in a new direction where they would have a better chance to find cover and continue the skirmish.  
  
“Go!” he commanded, turning to the others.  “Fall back!”  The team retreated around the corner, taking up positions behind protrusions in the bulkhead to fire on the advancing squads.  


X*X*X*X*X

 

“Belle, go,” TJ said, hoisting one of the two packs on her back and checking her weapon.  “I just need to grab the portable d-fib and I’ll be right behind you.”

 

Rush moved to the door of the infirmary and stuck his head out into the corridor, listening.  “Come on!  They’ve broken through and are heading this way.  Now, Belle!” he growled when she didn’t immediately jump to do his bidding.

 

She tossed the second pack at him and pushed him out the door, retrieving one of her 9mm pistols from her tactical vest.  “I’d amend my tone if I were you, Rush.  You’re in enough trouble as it is.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

“Go!” Young yelled over the din, continuing to herd his team back as they beat a slow retreat.  As the team ducked around another corner, he covered them, firing back towards the advancing Alliance guard.  Once they were clear, he trotted back and joined Scott just inside a bulkhead, the door closing behind him. 

 

The two men watched the door uncertainly, listening to try and hear whether the squad was going to attach another of their devices to open them again.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

“TJ, move your ass!” Belle called over her shoulder as Rush pulled her along behind him.  His hand was like a steel vise around hers, tingling numbness settling in her fingertips.  She dug in her heels to get him to slow, but he was insistent and TJ was falling behind.  “Rush!  Wait!”

 

“We can _wait_ when I have you safely tucked away in the control room,” he growled, tugging more forcefully on her hand.  He glanced over his shoulder, the gunfire gaining in frequency and growing louder as it moved their way.  There was no time to lose if they were to avoid capture.

 

Before Belle could argue, Lucians swarmed the corridor behind them, cutting her and Rush off from TJ as they surrounded the medic.  Rush stared in horror as Belle gave a quick twist of her wrist and gained her freedom, her eyes glowing with an inner fire as she took up a weapon in each hand and stormed back in the direction of her friend.  He was frozen in terror as he watched her walk brazenly into a hail of gunfire, her own weapons hot as she fired off round after round.

 

TJ ripped her arm away from one of her captors as they fell, ducking down behind the bulkhead to stare into the sightless eyes of the fallen man.  Another met the same fate and were it not for years of training, she would have given in to the shock coursing through her at seeing the petite astrophysicist morphing into a seasoned warrior. 

 

Belle took up a defensive position before the medic.  “Come on, TJ!  Move!” she commanded, backing down the corridor as TJ fell into step behind her.  The blonde reached for Belle’s left hand, switching out the pistol for her own to give her a full clip, the one in her right continuing to explode in a deafening burst of gunfire, the shell casings pinging against the cool metal floor.

 

They’d nearly reached Rush when Kiva stepped out into the corridor, her own weapon drawn and raised to return fire.  Seeing her cold insensate gaze focused so intently on his Belle, Rush snapped out of his daze and grabbed TJ, shoving her into the corridor behind him and hastened forward.  Belle struggled against him as his arm curled about her waist - nearly lifting her from her feet - and ran with her to where TJ awaited them.

 

He ducked down, shielding Belle, his arms wrapping protectively over her head as the Lucian war mistress fired off a shot in their direction.  The bulkhead doors closed between them, the bullet bouncing harmlessly off the thick steel.  “You’re welcome,” came Brody’s disembodied voice.  TJ pointed up at the Kino floating nearby.  “Wanna get the hell out of there now?”

 

Rush ignored the Kino and sat Belle up next to him, his heart still threatening to beat out of his chest.  “Belle!  Are you alright?” he asked frantically, his hands roaming over her in search of injuries.  There was no possible way she hadn’t been hit.  She stared at him through bottomless pools of ocean blue and he felt as if she didn’t see him at all, somehow trapped inside her own mind.  “Belle!”

 

TJ crawled over to them and shined her penlight into the girl’s eyes.  “She’s suffering from mild shock.  We need to get her out of here,” she said, taking up the other pack Rush had dropped.

 

“You ever see anyone gun down four assailants while suffering from shock?” he snarked, rising to his feet and then lifting Belle into his arms.

 

“No,” TJ shook her head.  “I can’t say I’ve ever seen _anything_ like what she just did.  Rush, she didn’t even try to take cover.  It was as though she had a complete disregard for her own life.  Was she hit?”

 

“No, and it’s no small miracle that she wasn’t.”  Rush gazed down at her as he hurried them towards the control room, baffled as TJ as to what could have possessed his girl to put her life in danger.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Kiva strode back into the gate room, her jaw clenched tightly to repress the rage burning in her chest over the loss of yet more of her men.  “Report!” she commanded, her voice carrying throughout the cavernous rooms over the cacophony of groans and wails of pain from the injured.

 

Varro stepped out from behind the console where he stood next to a petite redhead, satisfied with her abilities with the computer after she’d successfully gotten the lights back on.  He made his way to her side.  “We’ve got several wounded, more than seven dead and the recovery team hasn’t made it back with the rest of the fallen,” he told her.

 

A small smirk formed on her lips as she surveyed the small group of hostages they’d been able to secure during the skirmish, watching as they were forced to their knees, hands tightly bound behind their backs.  She stopped before Riley, noticing the radio attached to his sleeve and pulled it free, pressing the comm button.  “Colonel Young,” she spoke into the device, her cold voice holding a small measure of smug satisfaction.  


Young stopped in the middle of the corridor, urging his team to proceed without him.  “Who is this?”  
  
“Commander Kiva of the Lucian Alliance forces,” she answered.  “We will not be complying with your request to surrender.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

“What happened to Dr. French,” Young asked worriedly as Rush carried her into the control room and set her down gently on one of the benches on the room’s perimeter.  She was pale and listless, leaning heavily on Rush as he took a blanket from Volker and wrapped it around her.  “Did she get hit?”

 

“You wouldn’t believe it if we told you, Everett,” TJ said, coming into the room behind them and setting her packs down on the floor.  “Needless to say, she saved my life.”

 

Belle moaned, giving a firm shake of her head as Rush rubbed his hands briskly over her arms.  Finally her eyes focused on Rush and she gasped.  “You’re ok?  TJ?”

 

“Right here, Belle,” the medic said, sitting next to her and squeezing her hand.  “How are you feeling?”

 

“Head hurts,” she groaned quietly, lifting her free hand to press to her right temple.  Her gaze swung to Rush.  “Did I blackout or something?”

 

“I think you might have had an overload of adrenaline when you went all commando on us,” he said, brushing her hair away from her brow to get a better look at her in the dim light.

 

“Would someone please tell me what the hell happened,” Young barked, hands on his hips as he stared down at the three of them.

 

TJ cast him a withering look at his impatience, but answered nonetheless.  “I was cut off from them by several of the Alliance members, and Belle … she um … she came back, killed two and wounded two others to free me.  If it weren’t for her …”

 

Belle rose unsteadily to her feet, needing to get back to work.  She wouldn’t let herself dwell on what she’d done … not now, at least.  Rush’s arms shot out, wrapping protectively about her to help her regain her balance, but she found she couldn’t accept comfort from him just now.  If she did, she’d likely fall apart.  She pushed away from him and made her way to the primary console, Brody taking a step back to give her access.

 

“What do we know?” she asked, staring down at the screen.  The Kino feed showed the interior of the gate room and Belle paled as she saw Riley forced to his knees, blood dripping down the left side of his face from a gash to his temple.  His eyes met hers on the screen a moment before the Lucian commander turned to follow his gaze.  She drew her pistol and fired, the screen going black.

 

Brody, who’d moved to her right, sighed.  “Well, so much for that.”  


Rush took his place on her left, his eyes boring into Young where he hovered over TJ, trying to assure himself she was well.  “Why didn’t you evacuate the compartment to space?” he asked accusingly.

 

“That was the plan,” the colonel said, giving him a level look.  “I wasn’t expecting them to bring you along.”  


“Oh please,” Rush scoffed.  “The connection was severed the minute I stepped through the gate.  You did this to save Telford.  After everything that man did, you still sacrificed the safety of everyone on board for one man.”

 

A muscle ticked away in Young’s jaw, but he declined to say anything in his defense.  “Give me a lay of the land.  I need to know what we’re dealing with.”

 

Belle quickly struck the keyboard, her nimble fingers entering several commands as she brought up the appropriate schematics of the ship.  Rush traced the lines of corridors with the eraser of his pencil.  “This is the gate room.  They also occupy the surrounding corridors.  They had advanced further, but they pulled back apparently.”

 

“To stick with what they could hold with limited manpower.  That’s smart,” Young acknowledged with a nod as he looked at the console over Rush’s shoulder.  
  
“Once they retreated, I locked down the area behind them,” Brody informed them.  “Given the technology at their disposal, it won't stop them but it should give us some breathing room.”  
  
Rush studied the screen for a moment.  “The prisoners are being held here,” he pointed again. “Between them and us, thirty feet of corridor are in the way.”  
  
“The second we hit that outside section, those hostages are as good as dead.”

 

Scott came in, looking weary and battle worn.  “Colonel?  I, uh, I’ve done a head count.  We have twelve missed and presumed captured, including Riley, TJ, Eli and Chloe.”

 

“I’m here,” TJ said from behind him. 

 

“And Riley has been confirmed as one of their hostages,” Belle added.  “I take it neither of you have heard from Eli and Chloe,” she asked, her gaze questioning as she looked at Volker and Brody.  They shook their heads negatively and she sighed.  She glanced over at Scott.  “The civilians? All accounted for?”

 

“Yeah, Camille has them confined to the mess and observation deck for the time being.”

 

Rush leaned forward, peering at the screen as her fingers flew over the keyboard and brought up a screen he’d never seen before.  “What the hell is this?”

 

“Maintenance passages,” she murmured, concentrating on the schematic.  “Everett, take a look.  You have entry points here …” she pointed.  “… here and here.  You could send small teams in and take them unawares, but there’s a seventy percent risk to the hostages at the very least.  There’s also a risk of losing military personnel in the skirmish.”

 

Young shook his head.  “I don’t want to unnecessarily put our people at risk.”

 

“How were you ever even considered for this command again, Colonel?” Rush snapped, glaring at the man.

 

“Rush –“

 

Belle slammed her hand against the console.  “Enough, you two.  Now is not the time for your petty squabbles.  There are lives at stake and our ship … our _home_ … is being threatened.  I will _not_ do this again.”

 

Rush frowned at her, puzzled.  “What do you mean, _again_?”

 

She shook her head, refusing to go into it. “Nevermind.  Look, what if we diminished life support in the sections they’re occupying?  If we cut it off completely, they’re going to know something’s up, but if we do it at a level which isn’t noticeable, I think perhaps it would give us an advantage.  Our people being held captive would suffer the same effects, but it would be less damaging than exposure to a fire fight.”

 

Young stared at her in amazement, never having realized she had a penchant for tactical maneuvers.  “I’m impressed, Dr. French.  You have experience in war games?”

 

Belle shrugged, a small smile curling one corner of her mouth.  “Not like this, but once upon a time I used to enjoy playing … _Risk_ … with my papa.”

 

Rush narrowed his gaze on her, noticing the tell-tale twitching at the corner of her left eye.  ‘ _Risk’, my arse!_   He wouldn’t call her on it, but she had some explaining to do when this was over.  He had a feeling this had to do with her mysterious fairytale past and he couldn’t wait to have her tell him … if she would deign to speak to him.  “I think we should do it.  They’re cut off from the main systems, so they shouldn’t be able to detect a thing.”

 

“Do it.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

“Colonel Young,” Kiva said authoritatively into her stolen radio and smiled when he answered promptly.  “Here’s how I see the situation.  We have the gate room and some of your people.  You hold the control interface room, which I’m told is the ship’s nerve center.”

 

“What do you want?”  
  
“We came here for the same reasons you did. We don't want to hurt anyone. You're welcome to stay aboard Destiny and help us realize the potential of her discovery. Lay down your weapons and join us. Or - if you prefer - we can drop you off at the next inhabitable world of your choosing,” she offered graciously.  
  
Young snorted.  “Or I vent the atmosphere in the sections you're occupying and keep the ship.”  
  
“If you had that in you, Colonel, you would have done it already.”  
  
“The point is, I have the ability to end this conversation right now,” he growled and deactivated the radio. He shot a glance over at Belle where she was working with Rush at the console. “How long is it going to take for the effects to show, Dr. French?”

 

“I can’t be sure, Colonel.  It’s a gradual process.” She smirked at Volker and Brody.  “We could always try their idea and get the scientists working on a sleeping gas.  It _might_ work if we have the necessary ingredients in the hydroponics lab, but again … it will take time … a precious commodity we’re quite short on at the moment.”

 

“You’ve been reading sci-fi novels on your e-reader again, haven’t you?” Rush mumbled laughingly where only she could hear.  Her lips compressed into a thin line of irritation, the only sign that she’d heard him as she proceeded to ignore him.  He, in turn, regarded her worriedly.  It was never a good thing when Belle used the silent treatment technique to make her displeasure known.  It nearly drove him insane the last time she’d done it.  He much rathered when she would yell at him.  She cast him a steely eyed glare, picked up her laptop and moved off to sit beside TJ.

 

Greer led Camille into the control room.  “Ms. Wray would like to speak with you, Colonel.  In fact it will be quite a relief to everyone on board if you would.”

 

She glowered at the sergeant as Young sent him back to his post.  “Colonel, we are way past the point of fighting our way out of this situation,” she said hurriedly before he could cut her off.  “We need to negotiate with these people, and I think I should be the one to …”

 

Young held up a hand to forestall her.  “Yeah, yeah, no, I think you’re right.”  She blinked in surprise. 

 

“We could always trade _her_ for Riley,” Belle muttered under her breath which earned a sharp look from TJ.  “What?” she whispered.  “Don’t tell me you weren’t just thinking the same thing.”  


“They have some of our people,” Camille claimed, stating the obvious.  
  
“Well, we have some of theirs.”  
  
“So the first thing we need to do is suggest an exchange. Do you think they'll do it?”  
  
Young shook his head.  “No ... but I think it's worth a shot.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Kiva moved away from the hostages she’d singled out for execution to give her attention to Telford and the schematic of the ship he’d brought up on the console, intrigued.  He traced the lines of corridors with a finger.  “This is the control interface room, and this is the gate room.  If we cut our way through the wall here, we can flank them.  I can lead a team,” he said, his heart in his throat.  He only hoped what he was doing would buy Young some time to come up with a plan.

 

“That will reduce our numbers here,” she argued, clearly suspicious.  
  
“Take the Control Interface Room, we won't need them here. The ship will be ours.”

 

Kiva pointed to a couple of areas highlighted and flashing.  “These sections in red?”

 

“That section of corridor is exposed to space,” he explained.  The ship’s shield will hold long enough for us to pass.  We will slowly vent atmosphere to space, yes, but we can seal the corridor again after we’ve taken the ship.”  


Kiva stared thoughtfully at the three prisoners she’d singled out and held out her hand to Calvos.  He immediately withdrew the glock from his belt and placed it in her hand.  She checked the clip and presented it to Telford.  “Take six men.”

 

“I’ll need twice that …” he protested.

 

“Six.  And if anything goes wrong …” She paced behind Rivers, Riley and TJ’s little assistant, Carla, pressing the nose of her own pistol to the back of the girl’s head as she glared at Telford.  “…These three die.”

 

Telford shook his head as the girl whimpered softly.  “Not her.  She’s a medical assistant.  We can use her in the event that …”

 

Telford paused as Camille’s voice filtered over the radio.  “Commander Kiva.”

 

Kiva retrieved the radio from where it rested on the console and pressed the comm button.  “Who is this?” she demanded.

 

“My name is Camille Wray. I am the civilian authority aboard this ship. I'd like to act as an intermediary to resolve this issue without further bloodshed. Colonel Young will not transfer control of this ship to you.”  
  
“And you will?” Kiva snorted dubiously.  
  
“No - but I  _will_  expedite a prisoner exchange. Your people for ours.”  
  
The Lucian commander wondered how thick this woman thought she was.  “If I release my prisoners, Colonel Young will not hesitate to vent this compartment.”  
  
“You have twelve of our people. We have only four of yours. I propose an even trade - four for four. This way you maintain your advantage and gain some much needed manpower.  
  
Kiva looked at Telford thoughtfully for a moment.  “Colonel Young agrees with this?”  
  
Camille’s naturally condescending tone came over the link again.  “In our society, the military takes orders from civilian leadership.”  
  
Kiva glanced at Telford, who rolled his eyes and nodded, as if to say, ‘Yeah, unfortunately it's true.’ She paced for a moment, then activated the radio again.  “I'll consider it.”  
  
In the Control Interface Room, Camille handed the radio back to Young.  “Nice job. That should buy us some time.”  
  
Rush rubbed a hand over his aching ribs as he regarded them both.  “Look, you're trying to save lives here. Obviously that's a good thing. But, even if she agrees to the four, which is doubtful, she won't go any further than that. Once the equation tips to the point of acceptable losses ...”  
  
The IOA representative glared hotly at him.  “No, no, no, there will be no acceptable losses ...”  
  
“Colonel Young has already determined what that number is. He knows the chances of us winning without loss of life are practically nil. So, limit our losses, yes, all that we can ...”  He pointed a finger at the Colonel.  “... but eventually you're gonna have to  _do_  something.”  


Young pointed back at him.  “You don't know what you're talking about.”

 

“Colonel,” Belle growled warningly as she shot him a glare over the top of her computer.

 

“You forget … I've recently  _been_  one of your acceptable losses,” Rush accused as he sneered at the man.  
  
“You knew what you were getting yourself into, Rush!”  
  
 “You should have disconnected the stones and  _gotten me out_!” Rush said, his voice rising furiously.  
  
_“_ You have no clue what you're talking about!”

 

Belle set her laptop down and stepped between them – which was becoming a more frequent occurrence of late – and held up her hands.  “Enough!  You can work through your caveman issues later.  I’ll even host a boxing match on the fucking observation deck, but we will _not_ be doing this now!”

 

The men fell silent, but the glares traveling back and forth between the two clearly stated that it was far from over.  ”I'm going to save every one of those hostages, and I'm gonna re-take this ship. D'you understand me?” Young finally said.  


Rush nodded, but he had little hope that the colonel would follow through.  “Telford has convinced Kiva that he's still with her, otherwise he would be dead by now. Sooner or later, he will make his move,” Young said quietly, having regained control of his temper.

 

Belle scoffed bitterly.  “You put entirely too much faith in your _friend_.”  
  
“So, we are to gamble this ship and all of our lives in the hope that some  _traitor_  has had a change of heart,” Rush snarled acerbically, his hands clenching into fists atop the console.  When Young didn’t answer, he cast him a look of disgust and turned away, back to his work.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle placed a bowl of fruit and some jerky in front of Rush on the console along with a mug of tea, her eyes meeting his briefly before she moved over to sit with TJ.  He didn’t even think to argue with her, popping a berry into his mouth as he watched her.  She turned away, unable to stand the hangdog expression on his face, nor the longing emanating from his ocher eyes. 

 

TJ took the fruit Belle offered and regarded her friend sympathetically.  “How long are you going to be angry with him?” she asked quietly so the others in the room couldn’t overhear.

 

“Until I’m not, I guess,” she answered.  She’d been so happy for that brief moment when she knew he’d come back to her, but the pain of his subterfuge ate away at her like a festering sore.  “After this is all over, I’ll … I’ll um, talk to him.”

 

“Belle, after all the advice you gave me where my relationship with Everett is concerned, I feel like I need to return the favor,” she said, squeezing her hand.  “Don’t wait.  We don’t know what’s going to happen and if you wait, it could be too late and you’d always regret it.”

 

“TJ,” Belle sighed.  “He didn’t trust me enough to tell me what was wrong.”

 

“I’m sure he had his reasons for doing it.  He doesn’t trust anyone the way he does you, Belle.  Talk to … him.”

 

Belle tilted her head to the side and really looked at the medic, taking note of the lines of pain and stress at the corners of her eyes and mouth.  Her eyes widened.  “How long, TJ?”

 

“What?”

 

She leaned in closer.  “How long have you been having labor pains?  And don’t lie to me.”

 

TJ grimaced.  “Since this morning.  I woke up with pains in my back and now they’ve moved to my abdomen.  I’m ok, though,” she assured her.  “I’ve been monitoring my contractions and they’re still twenty minutes apart.  We’ve a while yet before we need to be worried.”

 

“We were supposed to get Dr. Pernicero to switch with someone to help with the delivery.  What are we going to do now?”

 

The blonde smiled weakly.  “The best we can?”

 

Belle scrubbed her hands over her face and gave her a look of wide-eyed disbelief.  “Remind me to panic later, huh?  Have you said anything to the colonel?”

 

“I can’t.  He’s got to focus on the incursion.  If he were to know I was in labor … I don’t want to think about it.”

 

Belle’s mind flickered to everything that could go wrong before moving into high gear.  “We need to prepare.”  She patted TJ’s hand soothingly.  “Don’t worry, ok?  We’ll make sure the little one makes her debut in a safe environment.  I’ll take care of everything.”  With that cryptic remark, she set off to find Volker and Park.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

The Lucian crew member switched off the laser torch and scrambled back as Telford kicked the panel free and stuck his head out into the corridor, searching for any of Destiny’s crew that might be standing guard.  Kiva handed him a flashlight.  “We’re good,” he said to her with a nod.  


He stepped through the hole they’d made and set off down the corridor, his small squad falling into step behind him.  They looked up anxiously at the holes dotting the ceiling where the shield worked to protect them from open space, but they followed as they’d been ordered by their fierce mistress.  Telford stopped next to a console embedded in the wall and activated it.  


“What are you doing?”

 

Telford stepped aside to show the man the schematic of the ship that appeared on the screen.  “Just checking to make sure we’re heading in the right direction.”  


X*X*X*X*X

 

In the control interface room, Rush cast his puzzled gaze up at the countdown clock above the door.  “There’s no countdown.  We dropped out of FTL because someone was gating in.  Why haven’t we jumped back?” he wondered aloud.  “Belle, where are those diagnostics I asked you …”  He looked over to her console to discover her gone.  “Where the hell is Belle now?”

 

“I don’t know.  She grabbed Volker and Park and took them with her … oh, and TJ,” Brody said with a shrug.  He’d learned long ago not to question Belle.  His console beeped, giving him a reason to change the subject before Rush’s mood slipped any further into hell.  “Someone just activated a console in one of the access corridors.”  


Rush flipped through several screens until the schematic appeared on his console and the route marked on it leading from the gate room to the control room.  “Colonel,” he said into his radio, “a console just came on using Telford's code. They're in the cordoned-off section, coming our way.”  
  
“That’s his move,” Young replied and broke out into a trot, James and Scott at his side as they moved into position.  


Somewhere between the gate room and control room, Telford halted his squad and cautiously moved into a storage area where he knew was a door that would lead him through to the corridor he needed.  He tucked his sidearm into the back waistband of his jeans and slammed his hand against the door release, frowning when it blinked red and refused to open.

 

On the other side of the doors, Young crouched down and took aim, James and Scott following his lead.  “Stand by,” he murmured into the radio.

 

“Yes, sir, we're good to go,” Greer answered from his position further down the corridor.  “Just give the word, sir.”  
  
Brody, in turn, gave his own assurances from the control room. “Ready.”  
  
“It's locked down.” Telford said, standing aside as one of his squad members moved forward and attached one of the devices they’d used on the gate room doors to disengage the lock.  
  
A humming permeated the room and the man frowned at the device, knowing it shouldn’t be making that sound.  A bright white light began to fritz on and off above his head where the shield covered the hole in the hull.  The other team members began to back away nervously as they readied their weapons to proceed through the door.  The shield crackled again, though this time it was accompanied by a high-pitched intermittent metallic squealing noise.  
  
The light flickered again and burst through the shield, its rays searing at the back of the man’s hand and burning his flesh.  He screamed in pain as the patch widened to encompass his entire hand and beyond until his body was consumed, leaving nothing behind but a blackened mass of ash and soot where he’d once stood.

 

The squeal faded and the light from the shields dissipated as if it had never been.  Telford looked up as the lights dotting the walls turned themselves back on.

 

Scott shared a puzzled look with Young.  “What the hell was that?”

 

“Fall back,” Telford commanded of his remaining squad as he stared down worriedly at the remains of the fallen man.  They didn’t hesitate to do as ordered, afraid to meet the same fate.

 

Telford watched them go before using the device to disengage the locks.  He raised his hands as the doors slid open to reveal Young and his team waiting with weapons drawn on the other side.  Everett signaled them all to hold their fire and David lowered his hands, squatting down next to the pile of ashes.  “What happened, Everett?”  Young stepped closer and studied the remains, shaking his head.  “You didn’t do that?”  
  
“What  _is_  that?” the colonel asked.  
  
“Just a minute ago, it was a man,” David hissed as he stood up.  “We have to stand down until we figure this out.”

 

Young activated his radio and gave the command to stand down and then sent his team off to their previous positions.  He handed Telford a radio.  “In case you need it.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Rush pressed the comm button and held the radio close to his mouth, speaking softly so he wouldn’t draw the attention of the others.  “Belle?  Belle, come in please.”  He waited for several moments, rechecking the data on his screen, his brow drawn in a dark frown at the information.  “Belle, _mo stór_ , I know you’re angry with me, but please answer this transmission.  We have a problem and you’re needed –“

 

A coded message flickered onto his screen requiring his personal code to view it.  Why would someone send him an encoded message?  He punched in his five digit code and sat back with a grimace.  Now she wouldn’t even speak to him at all.

 

_I’m busy, Rush. What’s the emergency?_

**Belle, I know you’re angry … and you have every right to be –**

_Don’t have time for this!!_

**Can’t you be angry later?  There’s a problem and I need you to come to the control room.**

**. . .**

**Belle?**

_TJ’s in labor, Rush.  Can’t Brody handle it?_

**What?  She chose to do this _now_ when we’re fighting off invaders?!?!**

_o_0 Seriously?  A woman does not_ choose _when she goes into labor, Rush!  It just happens. *facepalm*  And you are not to breathe a word of this to Everett!!_

**I won’t.  Is this where you disappeared to with Park and Volker? Not that I mind having Volker out of my personal space.**

  1. _I moved her to one of the crew quarters near the research lab … the one we used during the mutiny.  I figured if you were forced out of the control room it would be the next best place to set up and defend._



**You’re right.  I’ll be down soon to check on you.  Stay safe.**

_You too._

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Telford returned to the gate room and a seething Kiva.  “It wasn't them. Now, I don't know what happened to our man but I know that they had nothing to do with it. They don't have anything that could do  _that_  to a person.”  
  
“Are you telling me that they had nothing to do with  _this_?” she fumed, storming over to the nearest console which was fritzing wildly.  
  
In the control interface room, the science team were having similar problems.  “Overload in the power relays preceded by temporary disruption of  _all_  shipboard systems - lights to life support.”  
  
“Well, how the hell did they manage that?” Young asked as he crowded in front of Rush’s console.

 

Rush shook his head.  “They didn't.”  
  
“Well, then what caused it?”  
  
Rush glared at the man before turning his attention back to the console. “That's what I'm trying to figure out.”  
  
In the gate room, Kiva was giving Telford a similar glare of irritation. “They're making their move.”  
  
“They wouldn't be that obvious,” Telford protested.  
  
The ebony-haired war mistress activated her radio. “Colonel Young. Would you care to tell me what's going on?” she barked into the device.  
  
“We don't know,” Young answered truthfully.  
  
She tapped her nails against her hip, a clear sign that she was losing patience with them all.  “One of my men is dead.”  
  
“You need to know that we had nothing to do with that.”  
  
“Yes, so I'm told.  Therefore I’m going to ask for a show of good faith.  You send in some medical supplies to treat my wounded and I won’t begin killing the hostages,” she sneered.

 

X*X*X*X*X

  
Rush leaned his chin into his hand and sighed, wishing he could slip away for a few moments to check on Belle.  He didn’t like the idea of her being separated from him while there were mercenaries on board.  He had no doubt in his mind that she was more than capable of taking care of herself, but he would be able to concentrate better if she were at his side.  Even if she were flaming mad at the moment.

 

He scowled at Young as the man relayed Kiva’s latest demands.  “What will this accomplish?”  


“A goodwill gesture doesn't have to accomplish  _anything_ ,” Camille insisted as she paced before his console.  
  
He snorted, shaking his head at her lack of vision.  “Of  _course_  it does! So they lack medical supplies. Who knows what else they might lack? Food? Water? Now, in time they're gonna get desperate and make their move and when they do, they'll be dealing with the hostages first. There's only one way this is gonna end if we wait.”  
  
“How do you  _know_  that?” the IOA representative queried, arching an imperious brow.  “We don't even know what's going on with the ship!”  
  
“All the more reason to act now,” Young said firmly.  “Rush is right. We have to take them down, and we have to do it right now.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I’m sooooo sorry it took me so long to update. Was it worth the wait? I know it’s shorter than what I usually write, but this was a difficult chapter for me. Please leave a review and let me know, yeah?


	20. Incursion Part 2

 

Rush cursed as his angry stride carried him down the corridor.  He’d never realized what a long distance separated the control room from the research lab.  The lights flickered, the electrical fritzing noise buzzing all around him, and then finally went out.  He reached for the torch he’d shoved into his back pocket and turned it on, using the mediocre beam to light his way.

 

His radio crackled.  “Rush!  I need light if I’m going to be able to do this,” Belle screeched over the link.  “And my tablet died!  What the hell is going on?”

 

Another voice answered and he slammed his hand into the door release that would carry him through to the lab corridor.  “Who is this?”

 

“Crap!” Belle hissed.  “Rush, if you can hear me … Pegasus.”

 

He turned the dial on the radio and found channel ten.  Belle had a code for nearly everything and the radio was no exception.  Thankfully, Kiva – nor anyone else aboard, for that matter – were clever enough to break it.  “It’s not my fault, Belle.  We’re still working the problem.  Where are you?”

 

His light fell on her just outside the research lab.  He put his radio away and reached for her, not really caring if she were still mad at him or not.  He needed to feel the warm security of her touch and know without a doubt that she was safe.  She pushed warningly against his chest as his body pressed into hers, trapping her effectively between him and the bulkhead.

 

“Rush!”

 

“Belle, please …” he whispered, his mouth crashing down on hers.  His tongue swept across her lips, gently demanding entrance.  “I need you.”  Her nails dug painfully into his chest, gradually easing as she gave in to their mutual desires, heat flaring between them.  Her teeth sank into his bottom lip and a low rumbling growl sounded low in his throat, his cock lengthening and pressing roughly into her lower belly as his hips thrust against hers.

 

“Rush …” she groaned, dragging her mouth away from his.  It didn’t deter him, his lips searing past the smooth curve of her jaw to nip at her ear and trail a hot path over her throat.  She tried really hard to ignore the scrape of his stubble against her now over sensitized flesh, with little success.  “Rush, we don’t have time for this.”  Her hands fisted in his hair, but it didn’t put a dent in his resolve.  A violent shiver wracked his body as he pressed closer, and she knew … something was terribly wrong.  She stilled in his embrace and wrapped her arms about his shoulders, making little shushing sounds as she gently stroked his hair.  “What is it?  What’s happened?”

 

His hands delved into her hair, the heels of his palms gently pressing against her cheekbones as he once again plundered her mouth.  He was feverish in his desire to show her just how much he loved her, the words to do so lodged in his throat.  “N-Nick!” she gasped against his mouth.

 

“I love you, Belle.  Please tell me you know that!” he panted, burying his face against her neck as he tried to regain some semblance of control.  He couldn’t take her here in the middle of a deserted corridor where anyone could stumble upon them.  Especially with so many unresolved issues between them.  He was grateful she’d allowed him to take this much comfort from her.

 

“Of course, I know.  I love you too, but … Rush, what’s happened?  Was someone hurt?  Have the Lucians –“

 

He shook his head, his soft hair brushing against her cheek as he raised his head to look at her.  “Young made a play for power.  Kiva wanted medical supplies and he was going to trade some for Carla.  He had Greer all set to take her place and Kiva wouldn’t go for it.  The lights and consoles started flickering and she thought it was a trap.  She … ah … she killed one of the hostages.”

 

Tears welled in her eyes as she covered her mouth with her hand.  “W-Who?”

 

“Your friend, Corporal Rivers.  I’m sorry, _mo chroí_ ,” he said softly, wrapping his arms about her again.

 

A soft cry from down the hall had her backing away from him.  “Come on.  I need to check on TJ,” she whispered brokenly, pushing her grief aside.  She immediately went to the medic’s side, hurrying into the room, leaving Rush to follow.  She glanced up at Lisa, who poured TJ a cup of water from the canteen and handed it to her.  “How far apart?”

 

“Eleven minutes,” the petite scientist replied quickly, glancing down at her watch.  “Where’ve you been?  I sent Volker to get more water and fresh towels.”

 

“Did her water break yet?” Belle asked, lifting the sheet and feeling inside to check her friend’s cervix.  She clamped down on the nausea that assailed her.  She’d never wanted to be a doctor, quite frankly, and being thrust into the role was not one she relished.  “It’s ok, TJ, you’re only dilated to five centimeters.  You still have a ways to go.  Do you want something for the pain?”

 

TJ took a long swallow from her cup and shook her head.  “No, I’m good,” she offered with a weak smile.

 

“Ok, I’m going to be right down the hall in the lab.  I’ll be back in half an hour to check on you.”

 

“Thanks, Belle,” TJ said, squeezing the other woman’s hand.

 

Rush followed her out of the room, holding his silence until they’d reached the lab, grateful when the lights flickered back on.  “You’re amazing,” he said, casting her an appreciative smile.

 

Belle ducked her head, a sheepish smile curling her lips as she basked in his praise.

 

“I didn’t know you had experience with obstetrics.”

 

She snorted.  “I don’t.  Believe me, I’m the last person on this ship who wants this particular task, but I have little choice.  TJ is my best friend.  I can’t let her go through this alone.  We were going to have her OB/GYN switch with someone up here when it was time, but we can’t take a chance with the stones right now.”  She pointed to the Ancient tablet sitting on the console and sighed.  “Lisa found several of these last week in storage and I can’t tell you how happy I am she did.  I was able to access the medical database and download any and all information on childbirth onto the tablet.”

 

“These should come in quite handy,” he murmured, switching it on and scrolling through the information she’d collected.  “I can think of several things they could be used for in different areas of the ship.  Without the need of the console –“

 

“Exactly.  But, Nicholas,” she said, forgetting her upset enough to call him by his given name, “we’ve got to figure out why the lights keep going out.  It’s bad enough I have to be on guard against invaders.  I _need_ Destiny to cooperate with me.”

 

“I’m sure she isn’t doing it on purpose, Belle,” he chuckled.  “Take care of TJ … I’ll figure this out.”  He brushed an errant curl behind her ear, his eyes darkening with worry.  “Camille is trying to talk the colonel into surrendering.”

 

“Everett will never willingly give up this ship.  This isn’t just a military operation, Nicholas … this is our home.  He’s responsible for us all.  I understand his point of view.  If I were in his position, I wouldn’t easily surrender either.”  She glared at him as he cast her an incredulous look.  “Oh, don’t look at me that way.”

 

“It’s just a little odd hearing you defending him.  What is it you would do with the Alliance, Belle?” he asked curiously, his eyes narrowing on her.  There was something off about her since he’d been back and he was determined to discover what it was.

 

“They’re no better than ogres, Rush,” she said in a dangerously quiet tone.  “They’ve invaded our home, harmed our people and won’t stop until they’ve destroyed us.  Killers … murderers.”

 

“Belle!”

 

“He should have vented the gate room when he had the chance.  Killed them all … including that traitor, Telford.”

 

His hands came to rest upon her shoulders and he gave her a little shake.  “Belle, what’s gotten into you?  This isn’t you!  You’re not a killer!”

 

She lifted a hand to trail her fingertips alongside his precious face.  “Don’t you see, Nicholas?  Rumpel isn’t here to save me this time.  Over and over he saved me … from the ogres threatening my kingdom, from Regina, from _myself_ , and finally from Pan.”  She drew in a deep shuddering breath and tried to gain control of her roiling emotions.  “I have to be strong.  I have to be the queen I would have been in another time,” she said resolutely. 

 

“Belle, _mo stór_ , this isn’t a fairytale,” he murmured, tucking her head beneath his chin as she clung desperately to him.

 

“No … it’s not, but I will not fail those I love.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Rush leaned over the console and tried to work the problem, but he couldn’t stop thinking about Belle.  She shouldn’t have to worry about TJ and still be trying to help him figure out what was wrong with Destiny.  She should be here … with him, where she belonged … instead of off playing nursemaid.  He knew he was being selfish, but he really didn’t give a damn.  He wouldn’t admit to himself that he was more than a little nervous as to what would happen once they had a chance to talk.  He couldn’t ever remember seeing her so upset with him.  He was surprised she’d actually deigned to speak to him when he’d sought her out in the lab earlier, but he was too happy about it to question it.

 

His dark ocher eyes rose to scan the room, satisfied that Brody was still deep into his work.  He could happily do without Young prowling about like a caged beast, however.  Everett was falling apart.  If the man’s actions wouldn’t have a direct impact on Belle and himself, Nicholas would quite enjoy watching the man slowly implode.

 

“Colonel,” came Kiva’s cold voice over the man’s radio.

 

Everett lifted it from his belt and took a deep breath before activating the com button.  “This is Young.”

 

“I would like to speak to the civilian.”

 

He looked over at her, where she sat on one of the metal benches flanking the room, and brought the radio over to her.

 

She pursed her lips, hesitating only a moment before she squared her shoulders and took the device up in her hand.  “This is Camille Wray,” she said, activating the link.

 

“Colonel Young has proven he cannot be trusted.  Can you?” Kiva sneered.

 

“Yes.”

 

Rush snorted, but didn’t look up from the console.  He didn’t trust the IOA representative as far as he could throw her.  She’d do anything in her power to further her own career.

 

“Then  _why_  did you let them plan an ambush?”  
  
Camille sighed, choosing her words carefully.  “I voiced my disagreement.”  
  
“And you could not stop them?” Kiva asked, her voice hardening with displeasure.  
  
“No, obviously not,” Camille answered ruefully, scowling blackly at the colonel.  Young clasped his hands behind his back and stared back blankly, refusing to let her sneering disapproval influence him.

 

Kiva continued.  “For that, one of your men was killed. If you fail to live up to your promise twice, I will kill again. Do you understand?”

 

Camille shot to her feet and raked a hand through her hair as she paced behind Nicholas.  “No, I _don’t_ understand … but I _do_ believe you.”

 

“Then I would like to take you up on your initial offer, with one modification. Four of your men for four of ours; and food and water for three days.”  
  
Nicholas stabbed Young with an exasperated glare.  “We can’t do that!  You cannot enable the enemy.”

 

Camille ignored him.  “Will food and water be offered to the hostages?  
  
“They're no good to me dead.”  
  
Camille didn’t wait for Young’s acquiescence.  “Then we're agreed.”  She switched off the radio and handed it back to him.  Nicholas scowled at the woman and left the control room to check the panels in the corridor.

 

Young nodded to Camille.  “You’d better get started.”  Rush passed her as he came back into the room, glad to be rid of her.  Young crossed his arms over his chest.  “Do you have any answers yet?”  


“Just the one,” he said, reaching for his canteen and taking a long drink from it.  “Every crash has been exactly forty-six minutes, thirty-seven point four seconds apart.”

 

“So?” Young asked, frowning darkly as he shook his head.

 

 Rush nodded to Brody who pulled up the holo-screen in the center of the room.  Twin bright lights, rotating in circular orbits appeared on the screen, each marked, intersecting one another. 

 

“OK, so what am I ... what am I looking at?” Young asked, his brows drawn together in confusion.  
  
“That's our problem. It's a binary pulsar,” Rush explained, leaning an elbow on the console as he stroked the heavy growth on his chin.  “It's a combination of a rotating neutron star and probably a white dwarf orbiting around a single point in space.”  
  
”What does ... what does that mean to  _us_?”  
  
“Pulsars give off gamma radiation and X-rays as they rotate - short deadly bursts of ionized radiation,” Brody cut in. “The shield and the hull are protecting us right now.  Belle could probably explain it better –“ he snapped his mouth closed as Rush cast him a fulminating glare full of warning.

 

“Where is Dr. French?  I haven’t seen her for hours.  For that matter, I haven’t seen TJ, Volker or Park either,” Young murmured, looking between the two men for answers.

 

Rush was less than forthcoming, determined not to betray Belle’s secrets.  “They’re around, don’t worry.  Anyway,” he continued, “the pulsar is literally feeding off of the white dwarf, stripping off material and creating an accretion disc, and the white dwarf ploughs through that material every orbit ...”  
  
“... which gives off an even bigger gamma ray burst on top of what we're already getting hit with, and that's why our systems are shutting down. The shield has to draw extra power in order to compensate,” Brody said as he consulted the data on the screen.  
  
“And that happens every forty-six minutes, thirty-seven point four seconds. It's what's killed that man ... and it's gonna be what kills  _us_.”  Rush pinched the bridge of his nose.  “The Lucian Alliance just happened to dial in when the damned thing was in range. Destiny had to drop out of FTL to make the connection. It’s bad timing; bad luck.  
  
Young rubbed a weary hand over his brow.  “Well, then why are we still here?”  
  
Brody leaned his palms against his console and shrugged.  “Our FTL capability has been compromised.  We don't know why yet.”  
  
“The shield is what's keeping us alive, but sooner or later it's gonna fail. And when it does ...”  Rush let his voice trail off, leaving the others to figure it out for themselves.  
  
“... we're dead,” Young finished for him.  
  
“Yeah.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

“Come on, TJ, you have to drink as much as possible.  We have to keep you hydrated.  It’s either you drink or I hook you up to an IV, and I know you want to hold onto the saline solution we have stored for as long as possible,” Belle insisted, pressing another cup into her friend’s hands.

 

“I already feel as if I’m going to float away, Belle,” the blonde complained, screwing up her pretty face in irritation.  When the astrophysicist simply raised her brows in challenge, TJ gave in and drank.    “You missed your calling,” she said, handing the cup back and falling against the mound of pillows at her back. 

 

“Oh yeah?”

 

“Yep.  If you’d joined the military you’d be a general by now.”

 

Belle huffed out a short laugh which was cut short as Lisa handed her the small tablet displaying a flashing red message box.  “I’ll be right back, ok?”  She left TJ and stepped out into the corridor, punching in her code.

 

**How’s Lt Johansen?**

_She’s as well as can be expected.  Her contractions are five minutes apart and she’s dilated to eight centimeters.  We’ve still got a ways to go, Nicholas.  What’s going on with the ship?  I’ve been trying to monitor what’s happening from down here, but my multi-tasking skills never accounted for a woman in labor :D_

**Very amusing, _mo ghra_**.  He went on to explain the problem and what they were facing. **We might not live long enough to see the new baby.**

Belle stared down at the tablet in her hands, her lower lip clamped tightly between her teeth and her eyes narrowed.  _Lovely to see you’re as optimistic as ever.  What is Young planning to do with the Lucians?  We have to dispense with the threat and get the hell out of here, Rush … immediately._

**I realize that, Belle.  However, there is no way to do that at present without putting Telford and the hostages in danger and the fool will not consider it.**

_I don’t want to see them come to harm either … er … well the hostages, anyway.  I really couldn’t give a damn what happened to David after what he’s put us through.  I -_ She stopped typing as she heard another scream from TJ.  _I have to go.  Keep me posted, yeah?_

**I will.  Belle … please stay safe.  I love you.**

_Ttys …_

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Camille paced anxiously around the Mess as Becker and his team prepared and packed up rations to send to the Lucians, explaining as succinctly as possible to Kiva over the radio what their current situation was.  “The radiation burst is what's causing the system malfunctions.”  
  
“Which will only get worse,” Kiva snapped in irritation.  
  
“Because the shield will fail eventually, yes ... unless we can find a way to make the jump to FTL.”  
  
“How much time?”  
  
Camille sighed.  “According to Rush, we can withstand two more of the bursts. People will start dying by the third.”  
  
Telford stepped over to her side, drawing her attention as he cleared his throat.  He wasn’t stupid enough to attempt touching her.  “We saw what one of those bursts did to a man when he wasn't protected by the ship's hull.”  
  
Kiva glowered at him, her lip curling up into a sneer as she reactivated her radio.  “First we'll make the trade, and then we'll discuss this new problem.”

 

Camille switched the channel as the woman signed off, tuning into the frequency used by Destiny’s military personnel.  “Lt Scott, we’ve got the supplies that they’ve requested and we’re ready to make the prisoner exchange.”

 

“Copy that,” Scott answered.  He raised a brow at Greer and hit the door panel to the room where their Alliance prisoners were being held.

 

In the Mess, Becker and several of the civilians grabbed the rations and went out into the corridor to join the others.  Scott waited until Camille was alone before coming in.  “Camille?  Come here.”

 

She turned and raised a brow at the object in his hands.  “What’s that?”

 

“A flak vest. Just in case.”

 

Belle rushed past them hurriedly as she entered the Mess, disappearing into the kitchen.  Camille frowned after her, rather surprised by her abrupt appearance.  She shook her head and turned back to Scott, chuckling ruefully.  “How can I expect them to trust me if I can't even demonstrate a willingness to trust them in turn?”

 

“Trust who?” Belle asked, poking her head out of the kitchen.  “Not the Lucians?  Seriously?  Tell me you’re not that naïve.”    
  
“All due respect, ma'am,” he said, “Belle’s right; I don't think they  _can_  be trusted,”

 

Cabinets slammed loudly.  “Where the hell are my peaches?!  Becker!!”

 

Scott winced as Becker ran back into the Mess at the sounds coming from his kitchen.  “Dr. French, please!” the harried man cried, trying to shoo her out of his space.

 

Camille winced as more banging ensued followed by a bit of cursing before it quieted down enough for her speak to Scott again.  She shook her head reluctantly at the flak jacket.  “You tell Colonel Young I appreciate his concern.”

 

Scott smiled and nodded.  “Yeah, the colonel said you wouldn't take it. I just thought I'd try anyway.”

 

Belle emerged from the kitchen, her arms laden with a tray of rations and mugs of tea, a canteen filled with water under her arm.  “Good luck, Camille,” she said hurriedly as she passed them, trying to hide the smirk curling one corner of her mouth which clearly stated she hoped she would be traded for one of the hostages.  She didn’t have time for the Asian woman or their differences just now anyway.  She had a team of starving scientists to feed and her pregnant friend to see to.

 

Camille watched her go, a frown shadowing her features as she realized what she was about to face.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Greer cocked his head to the side, regarding his commanding officer with silent contemplation.  “Are you sure about this, sir?

 

“No,” Young answered, shaking his head.

 

“Good enough for me,” the sergeant replied, leaning against the bulkhead as he waited.  


They turned towards Camille as she rounded the corner in the corridor followed by Scott and the prisoners carrying the requested rations.  “Hope you make a better impression than I did,” he said to her.  


She smiled briefly as the group walked past Young and Greer, stopping before the sealed bulkhead.  She pressed the com button on her radio.  “Commander Kiva, are you ready?”  
  
The radio crackled.  “We are.”

 

Camille looked back down the corridor to Young who lifted his own radio to his mouth and commanded Brody to open the doors for her.  He ventured farther away, not wanting to give the Lucians any excuse to think it was another ambush and harm more of his people.  


Scott held his finger on the safety switch as the doors whooshed open to reveal Dannic – one of Kiva’s lieutenants – grinning smugly.  He looked to Camille for guidance, but she shook her head, gesturing the prisoners to follow her over the threshold carrying the requested supplies.  Once they were all inside, she radioed Brody to close the doors behind them.  
  
After the doors were secured, Dannic walked back to the corner and beckoned to Kiva.  The Lucian war mistress regarded the small Asian woman with a cold smile.  Camille ignored her for the moment, her eyes locking on Destiny’s three crew members that followed her.  The first two were civilians, the third military, causing a frown to pucker at her brow.

 

“I asked for civilians.”  


Kiva clasped her hands before her and arched a brow.  “These are the two we had, aside from the little medical assistant.  She stays with us as her expertise may be of some use to me.”  
  
“We agreed on four for four,” Camille ground out through clenched teeth, irritated that the woman had gone back on her word.

 

Kiva half turned and stepped aside as two of her men dragged Rivers’ body along the corridor towards Camille.  She lifted a hand to cover her mouth as she gasped in horror.  The men dumped him at her feet and turned, disappearing back around the corner. 

 

Kiva looked down at his body for a long moment before she raised her gaze back to Camille.  “Four,” she stated in a matter-of-fact tone.  
  
Camille gave her a pained look.  “Even if we figure out a way to jump back into FTL - and right now the odds are not good ...  
  
Kiva interrupted her impatiently, the woman already wearing on her nerves.  “Then we'll be right back where we started.”  
  
“Yes, but this doesn't have to end with one of us losing. If we could just figure out a way to work with each other then maybe we could ...”  
  
Again, Kiva interrupted, her voice frigid as a fjord.  “I can see that you're someone who enjoys talking through problems, but if you don't solve this new one, then neither of us will have  _anything_  to talk about.”

 

She jerked her head towards the former prisoners behind Camille, who picked up their supplies and followed her in the direction of the gate room.  The three Destiny crew members walked over to stand behind Camille.  She stood there, fighting back tears as Kiva and Dannic followed their men.  She lifted her radio and called for Brody to open the doors and the civilians hurried through them, glad to be back with their own.

 

“Alright, get to the infirmary so we can assess any injuries,” Scott ordered before moving over to Camille who still stood frozen in the corridor.  He nodded to two of his men who came forward to retrieve Rivers’ body.  “Camille, where are Chloe and Eli?”  


Camille jerked her head at the two departing crew members.  “She said they were the only two civilians.”

 

Scott ushered her back onto their side of the line and out of the neutral zone.  “Then where the hell are they?”  


X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle set the bowl of rations and mashed peaches aside on the bedside table and smiled at TJ.  “Feeling better?  You’re not quite as pale now.”

 

“Belle, I’m in labor.  There is no ‘feeling better’ until we get the baby out,” she snapped irritably.  “I’m so tired.”

 

She took a cool wet cloth from Lisa, who hovered nearby, and bathed TJ’s face with it.  “I know.  It shouldn’t be too much longer.”

 

“Something’s wrong … it doesn’t feel right.  I need Everett.  Everett should be here,” she moaned.  It was her first child, she was scared, tired, in pain and it wasn’t unnatural that she wanted her child’s father to be there for the birth.

 

“I thought we’d agreed we wouldn’t tell him until he’d dealt with the Lucians.  He can’t afford to be distracted right now,” Lisa said quietly.

 

Belle winced as TJ squeezed her hand, another pain ripping through her abdomen.  “Ok, love, breathe … breathe … that’s it,” she encouraged her, making her focus through the pain.  “Easy … good.  You’re doing so well, Tamara.”

 

She helped to ease her friend back against the pillows to rest between her contractions.  “Why don’t you let me give you just a small dose of –“

 

“No!  No drugs.  We might need them later.”  She took a sip of water from the cup Lisa offered.  “Women have been doing this for centuries without artificial painkillers … I can too.”  She stabbed Belle with a worried look.  “Although I wouldn’t say no to an ultrasound, to know what’s really going on in there.”

 

“We don’t have an ultrasound machine on board, though, TJ,” Lisa said.

 

Belle’s eyes lit up.  “But we _do_ have the scanner we found in the medical equipment.  It’s more comparable to an MRI than an ultrasound, but it may be enough to let us see the baby and it wouldn’t be as harmful as the portable x-ray.”  She chewed her lip thoughtfully as she waited for TJ’s decision.  “What do you think?”

 

“I think it’s worth a shot.”

 

She went to the door and yelled for Volker down the corridor.  He met her at the threshold, slightly out of breath.  “Yeah, Belle?”

 

Belle removed one of the 9mm handguns from her tactical vest and thrust it into his hands.  “You know how to use one of these?”

 

“Um … a little?”

 

“Dale, don’t give me that shit,” she admonished firmly.  “This is no time to be hesitant.  Either you know how to use it or you don’t.  Which is it?”

 

 “Yeah, yeah, I do.  I just can’t promise I’ll hit what I aim at.”

 

Belle tossed her head back a moment, staring blankly at the ceiling as she prayed for patience.  Finally she looked at him once more.  “Alright.  I’m going to make a run to the infirmary, provided it hasn’t fallen into the hands of the enemy.  You stand guard at this door.”  She pointed down the corridor.  “That’s the only way in.  You see someone you don’t recognize, shoot them.” 

 

He cringed as he looked down at the gun in his hands.  She wrapped her hand around his collar and dragged him down to her eye level.  “Dale, pay attention, dearie.  You will _not_ let TJ come to harm.  Do you understand?” 

 

He nodded jerkily.  “Yeah!”

 

“She is our medic, our third in command and more importantly … my friend.  I’m trusting you, Dale.  You can do this.  Don’t fail me.”

 

Volker straightened his shoulders and stood up a little taller, bolstered by the faith she was putting in him … a faith Dr. Rush would never have thought to put in him.  He pointed the gun down the corridor as Belle disappeared around the corner, steadying his arm as he aimed. 

 

Lisa giggled behind him.  “You might want to leave the safety on until you actually need it.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Scott stuck his head into the infirmary.  “You ok in here, James?” he asked Vanessa as she patched up the few minor scrapes the newly released prisoners had received during the incursion.

 

“Yeah, I got it, but where’s TJ?  I thought she’d be here,” she queried, nodding to her patient that she was free to go before moving on to the next.

 

“I dunno,” he said.  “Now that I think about it, I haven’t seen her for hours … nor Park and Volker.”

 

“And Belle?”

 

“Hey, guys, what’s going on?” the woman in question asked as she hurried into the infirmary.

 

Vanessa shook her head.  “Where’ve you been?  I haven’t seen you for hours.”

 

“Oh, um … TJ, Park, Volker and I are securing quarters in case we need to move further into the ship.  Y’know if the Alliance … um, yeah,” she stammered, disappearing into the back of the huge room to where TJ stored the heavier diagnostic equipment.    
  
Greer continued with a customary check of all his weapons, but paused a moment to look over his shoulder at Belle before arching a brow at Scott.  “She’s up to something,” he sing-songed beneath his breath.

 

She emerged from the back, her arms laden with the scanner, stopping briefly between them.  “So, what’s been happening?”

 

“Camille was able to pull off a prisoner exchange,” Scott said.

 

“Riley?”

 

“Nah, he’s still a hostage.  Camille was dealing for civilians,” Greer said, trying to maintain a neutral tone.

 

She glanced around the empty room, Vanessa having released the last of the former prisoners with a clean bill of health and returning to her own duties.  “Where are Chloe and Eli?  Were they among those released?”

 

Scott shook his head and Belle could see the worry clouding his light blue eyes.  “No.  There’s been no sign of either of them.”

 

“They must be hiding somewhere,” she replied, going through a mental map of the ship.  “There are so many areas of Destiny still unexplored, Scott, I’m sure they’re safe.  Try not to worry.”

 

“You haven’t seen them … while off doing _secret stuff_?” Greer asked, waggling his brows at her.

 

A smirk curled the corner of her mouth as she shifted the burden in her arms.  “I haven’t been doing _secret stuff_ , Ronald.  Behave.  Look, I’ve got to get back.  Radio me if you find them, yeah?”

 

“Will do, ma’am,” he chuckled, giving her a mock salute.  “Be careful.  You still owe me a sparring session when all this is over.”

 

She hurried out of the room, her boots nearly soundless against the metal floor.  Greer sighed as he looked back over to his friend and noticed the concern marring his features.  “Look, stop worrying.  That boy would take a bullet before he'd let them touch a hair on Chloe’s head.”

 

Scott nodded, his gaze still lowered to the floor.

 

“Lieutenant,” Greer said sternly.  “Do _not_ get distracted.”  
  
“I'm not, I'm not. I just, uh ... “ he insisted, blowing out a huge breath in frustration.  “I just wanna get this done with.”  


“And I wish the colonel would give the word so that we could go in there and properly resolve the situation.”  He tapped his fist rhythmically against Scott’s chest to emphasize his point.  “Look, he'll do the right thing when the right time comes. You gotta trust that, one hundred percent.”

 

Scott grinned at him, shaking his head in admiration. “I don't know how you do it, man.”

 

The master sergeant clapped his friend on the back and led him out of the room and back to their post.  “Well, you need to learn.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

The lights began to fritz once more as the pulsar swung into position and let off a great flash of white light that shone brilliantly through the porthole.  Rush looked up from his console.  “Mr. Brody.”  He moved over to the holo-screen next to Young as the engineer brought up the necessary data.  “Look, it's not much of a solution, but we don't have to shield the entire ship.”  
  
Young studied the images on the screen.  He was rather useless at reading the Ancient text scrolling by, but at least he was able to follow Rush’s explanation fairly enough.  “Just the side facing the pulsar, right?”  
  
“Right.  We'll have to leave  _some_  shielding on the underside of the ship, but we should be able to transfer something like ninety percent. Should buy us enough time to restore FTL capability,” Nicholas said, tapping his pencil against his notebook.  
  
Camille paced nervously around the perimeter of the room.  “So why haven't you guys done it yet?” she asked, impatience heavy in her tone.  
  
“Because it can't be done from inside the ship,” Brody said, not even bothering to look at her.  “Well, it  _could_  if we had control of the core systems, but we don't, so ...”  
  
Rush tossed his notebook onto his console and turned to face the colonel.  “No-no-no, look-look, someone's gonna have to go for a walk.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Scott and Greer shared a dubious look as Rush explained to them what they needed to do.  They were all up for a walk outside on Destiny’s hull, but were rather leery of being fried by the pulsar.

 

“I can tell you where to go, what to do. The mechanics of it are relatively simple,” Rush said matter-of-factly.  
  
“Yeah, well, then, why don't  _you_  put on a spacesuit and do it?” Greer snarked, his thumb hooked through his belt loop, his other hand resting lightly on his semi-automatic rifle.  
  
Nicholas arched a brow at Belle’s dear friend.  “Well, uh,  _you_  get the FTL drive back online while I'm gone and you've got a deal.”  
  
Scott turned his attention back to his commanding officer and nodded resolutely.  “We'll get it done, sir.”  
  
“I know you will. Gear up.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle draped the canvas-like material over TJ’s bare belly and smile reassuringly.  The pad housed gods only knew what in the way of mechanics, electrodes and the like, but if it would show them the baby as clearly as an ultrasound, and put her mind at ease, it would be worth it.  Unfortunately, the scanner had never been tested.

 

“Just relax, Tamara.  Good deep breaths … that’s it.”  She turned the machine on and stared at the large green button, her finger hovering over it. 

 

“Go on, Belle,” TJ said, her gaze focused on the small screen on the machine’s right side.  “I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

 

Belle chewed nervously on her lower lip and nodded, depressing the button.  She winced as it whirred to life, the pad draped across TJ’s abdomen glowing faintly.  “Are you ok?  Any pain, discomfort, anything?”

 

TJ ignored her friend, her eyes fixated on the images.  Finally, she dragged her horrified gaze away and stared back worriedly at her.  “Belle …”

 

“She’s breech.”  _Fuckkkk!_   she cursed inwardly.  “It’s ok, TJ.  We’re going to be fine, ok?  Let me just have a look in the database to see if there’s anything there and …”  She patted her hand and screwed up an encouraging smile.  “You can do this.  You’ll be ok.”

 

Belle shot Lisa a look and the other woman grabbed the tablet and followed her out of the room.  She slid down the bulkhead to land heavily on her arse, drawing her knees up and resting her head between them, drawing in long calming breaths.  This was no time to panic!

 

“Belle, are you ok?” Lisa asked, sitting down beside her.

 

“I will be.  See what you can find on the tablet.  If it won’t let you access it, I can run to the lab and find what we need, I’m sure.”  She leaned her head back against the wall, wishing for the thousandth time that they could use the stones to have TJ’s obstetrician come aboard to help them deal with the birth.  She was feeling more than a little overwhelmed.  She wanted Nicholas to come and reassure her, but she couldn’t pull him away from his work.  They needed him to fix the problem with the FTL drive and it would be selfish of her to distract him.  TJ was being so strong.  Belle could do no less.

 

“Belle, look …” Lisa said, showing her the tablet.  “We’re … um … we’re going to have to turn the baby head down.”

 

She gulped, the noise sounding like canon fire in the still air of the corridor.  “Wonderful!”  She banged the back of her head against the bulkhead several times in frustration.  “We need the stones.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Camille glared at the colonel as she depressed the com button on the radio again.  “They have only the time between the gamma ray bursts to complete their work. The next one is less than twenty minutes from now, so obviously time is an issue.”  
  
“So what do you need from us?” Kiva asked, her voice cold as it filtered over the link.  
  
“There's a hull breach in the access corridor that's under your control. It's the exit point closest to the array. We need you to let us in.”  
  
A sinisterly calculating smile curved the Lucian commander’s lips.  “Transfer control of all the ship's systems to us and we will let them in.”  
  
Camille gaped at the radio in her hand, at a loss as to what to say.  For someone who prided herself on her excellent vernacular skills, this wasn’t a good sign.  Finally, “You do understand that if you don't help us save this ship, we will  _all_  die.”  
  
“Oh, I understand completely - and I want you to transfer the ship's systems to  _us_ ,” Kiva persisted, uncaring for the woman’s plight.  “Hopefully – for all our sakes – you won’t take too long to decide.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

“Belle, you can do this.”

 

She shook her head, tears threatening at the corners of her eyes.  “No … I can’t!”

 

TJ leaned up on her elbow and leveled her with a look.  “Yes, you can.  You’ve done stitches and IVs and helped me patch up Dunning when his leg got mangled by the armadillo thing three planets ago without batting an eye.  You can turn the baby into the right position and deliver her safely,” she insisted.

 

“Come on, Belle …” Volker said softly with a little huff of a laugh.  “There’s nothing you can’t do.”

 

“Not this.  We need the doctor.”

 

Lisa pasted a bright smile on her face, her unfailing cheerfulness rather misplaced.  “We can’t get to them.  Young has them under guard and we can’t let any more people than necessary know what’s going on down here.”

 

“Why does it have to be me?” Belle asked, staring at the three of them with full blown panic in her eyes.

 

“You have the smallest hands.”  This from Volker.

 

Belle shot him a glare that had him backing up a step.  She’d never really minded that she was petite, verging on tiny.  It had never stopped her from doing things she’d wanted.  Besides, she’d been the perfect size to compliment Rumpelstiltskin, just as she did with Rush.  She’d never expected her size to backfire so spectacularly against her.  She winced as another pain had TJ doubling over, a rather loud scream echoing through the chamber.

 

Lisa prodded her over to the bed, giving her a pointed look.  “You are her best chance, Belle.”

 

_Well. Just. Shit!_

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Telford made his way over to the bulkhead where the Alliance had cut through the wall to gain access to the corridors, eyeing the two men guarding it warily.  He stiffened his spine and approached them confidently, the steely glint in his eye belying the trepidation in his gut should Destiny’s crew fail to reclaim the ship.  “When was the last time you ran a security sweep in there?”  


One of the men shrugged.  “Never mind,” David said impatiently.  “I’ll do it.  Radio.”  He took the radio from the nearest man and pressed the com button.  “Calvos, this is Telford.  Give me access to the damaged section,” he ordered.  


From the gate room console, Calvos sent the command and the doors unlocked and opened with a soft whoosh.  Telford handed the radio back to the guard and walked inside, moving through the hole in the wall.  He dug in the pocket of his jeans and retrieved a small torch, shining it through the hole before stepping through and setting off down the corridor.

 

Several times, he glanced over his shoulder to ensure none of the Alliance members followed him.  He made his way to some exposed pipework and extracted the radio – which Everett had given him - which he’d hidden there.  
  
In the control room, Young glared at Camille, trying to maintain a semblance of patience in light of her upset.  “Are you telling me you think she’s bluffing?” he asked, referring to Kiva’s latest demands.  
  
Rush snorted, glancing between them.  “She doesn't  _have_  to. She knows who she's dealing with. But to be fair, you don't have much of a choice. At least it'll keep _some_  of us alive ... for a while, anyway.”  
  
“Yeah, like  _you_ ,” Camille retorted, her voice dripping with disdain.  
  
“You forget I've recently been in their employment. I wouldn't envy me just yet,” the scientist snarked, his eyes narrowed dangerously on the woman.  
  
Young’s radio clicked three times and he jerked it off of his belt, switching it to channel six as previously arranged.  “David?”

 

“Yeah, Everett, it’s me,” Telford returned.

 

“It’s about damned time,” the colonel snapped.  He would have voiced more of his displeasure had his friend not cut in on him.  
  
“Listen, do it. Transfer control of the ship and surrender yourselves - everyone but Rush and Brody. Have them retreat to one of the auxiliary control rooms.”  
  
Young shook his head in disbelief even though he knew the man couldn’t see him through the device.  “They're gonna notice Rush is missing.”  
  
“Tell them he panicked and ran away. They'll believe it. By the time they start looking for him, it'll be too late. At the first available opportunity, I'll access one of the gate room consoles and transfer control of the ship back to Rush.”  
  
“Well, the second they find out, they're gonna start shooting prisoners,” Young said, unable to keep the anxiety from seeping into his tone.  
  
Rush laid a hand on his arm to draw his attention.  “Then I won't  _let_  them find out ... not right away, anyway.”  He held out his hand for the radio and Young reluctantly handed it over to him.  Nicholas clicked the com button.  “Telford, I won’t lock them out completely.  They can have control of the ship until I decide they can’t.”  
  
David nodded to himself, satisfied with the plan as he glanced over his shoulder again.  “They'll herd all of the prisoners into one compartment - and if they don't, I'll suggest it. When they do, I'll contact Rush on this channel. I'll tell him which compartment, then he can vent the atmosphere from all the surrounding ones.”  
  
Rush handed the radio back to Young, who activated it once more.  “Where are  _you_  gonna be?”  
  
“You let  _me_  worry about that. I gotta go.”  Telford quickly deactivated the radio and tucked it back out of sight in the pipework as two guards came around the corner.  He shined the flashlight around the storage room as if he had been checking the area before turning to them.  “It’s all clear.”  He walked back towards them and glanced back down the corridor a little nervously.  “Best not to stick around,” he said, leading them back towards the gate room.  


X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle bit down hard on her lower lip as she sat down on the small stool, her hands scrubbed raw and shoved into a pair of sterilized latex gloves.  TJ hadn’t wanted it, but they’d given her no choice in the matter, pumping her full of morphine so she wouldn’t suffer too terribly with what they were about to do.

 

“Lisa, are you ready?” she asked, trying to keep the tremor of fear from being heard in her voice.  Park would have the non-invasive part of the procedure, helping to nudge the baby from the outside while Belle tried to turn it internally.  She shuddered at the very thought, fighting back the nausea that rose to choke her.  _Brody had better have something good in that still for when this is all over_ , she thought irritably.

 

“I’m good, Belle.  Ready when you are,” Lisa said with a firm nod.  How could she look so excited for this?

 

“Dale, you know what to do?” she called over her shoulder towards the open doorway.

 

Volker glanced at her over his shoulder, not wanting in the least to see what was going on behind him.  He had one of her sidearms at the ready from his position in the corridor, ready to defend them if needed.  “All set.”

 

Belle sent up a silent prayer to any deity who might be listening as she took in her friend.  “TJ, you alright?”  TJ giggled and gave her a thumbs up, causing Belle’s eyes to widen.  “Ooookaaayy!”

 

They’d scooted TJ down on the bed so her knees were bent, her legs spread and her feet wedged against the footboard on the bed.  She was dilated the full ten centimeters and ready.  It should be fairly simple for Belle to do what she needed to do … if her insides weren’t screaming in fear.  “Alright, Lisa, I’m ready,” she said with a nod.  The little scientist reached for the bottle of gel from the bed beside them and squeezed a generous amount over Belle’s right hand.

 

Her face screwed up, her eyes clenched tightly as she slipped inside, thinking this had to be worse than dinner with her former betrothed and her father.  It was equally horrifying.  TJ moaned in discomfort, but the morphine seemed to be helping.  Belle gasped, her startled gaze jerking up to Lisa’s.  “Oh!  I’ve got a foot!”

 

“Well, that’s great!” she said, consulting the tablet lying on the bed between them.  “Uh … it says you need to gently rotate it in a counter clockwise motion until the head is in a downward position in the birth canal.”

 

Belle nodded jerkily and focused on her task, her hand firmly clasping the baby’s ankles and moving them to the right while Lisa pressed on TJ’s abdomen where the head and shoulders should be.  TJ wailed pitifully, her shoulders rising from the bed as she reached instinctively for her stomach.  “Dale!!”

 

Volker rushed back into the room.  “Yeah?” he asked, averting his gaze.

 

“There’s a Kino in my bag.  Activate it and toss it out into the corridor … then lock the door.  I need your help.”  She tried to remain as still as possible until they could secure the expectant mother.  It didn’t take him long to do as she’d asked, laying the Kino remote on the bedside table to monitor for intruders.  “Ok.  I need you to get behind TJ, cross her arms over her chest and hold her tightly so she can’t move.”  To TJ she said, “I know this is difficult, Tamara, but I promise to do everything I can to see you through this.”

 

TJ nodded and tried to relax back against Volker’s chest.  “I know you will,” she said, her lower lip trembling. 

 

Belle took a deep breath once everyone was back in position and nodded at Lisa.  Another firm push from both woman and the baby was horizontal.  Two more – and several ear piercing screams from TJ – and the little one was vertical as she should be. 

 

TJ raised her tear-bright eyes to Belle and smiled tremulously, exhausted from the pain wracking her body.  “See … k-knew you c-could do it.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

In the control room, Young changed the channel on his radio and pressed the com button.  “This is Colonel Young.  I am prepared to surrender control of this ship, provided certain conditions are met.”

 

“Go ahead,” Kiva said, a triumphant smile evident in her voice.

 

“I need you to guarantee me the safety of my people.”  
  
“Agreed.”  
  
He paced around the perimeter of the room, one hand rubbing idly at the pain in his neck.  “ _Nobody_  gets hurt during the changeover, and no retribution afterwards.”  He sighed when she agreed and deactivated his radio.

 

“Well, Mr. Brody, time to panic and run off,” Rush snarked, smirking over at the engineer.

 

Brody held up a hand as his console beeped.  “Hold on a sec. We just got a message from an unexplored part of the ship,” he said pointing to the flashing red message box on the screen.

 

“It’s Eli,” he said, glancing sharply at Young.  “What are we going to do?”

 

“Well, _you’ve_ gotta go.  You can deal with Eli when you reach your new command center, I’m sure.  He can wait another few minutes,” Everett said wearily.  “Go!  Good luck.”  
  
“Yeah, you too,” Nicholas replied grudgingly, following Brody from the room without a backward glance.

 

Young moved over to Rush’s console, his finger hovering over the button lit up on the keyboard.  One push and it would transfer limited control over to the Lucians.  He counted down silently from twenty, hoping that wherever TJ was holed up with Belle she was safe.

 

He pressed the button.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Volker fanned himself with one hand and held the 9mm securely in his other, his nerves on edge from the screams emitting from the room behind him.  He’d never been an active participant in a live birth before and he certainly never wished to be again.

 

“Alright, Tamara, breathe … good … nice deep breath.  Relax for a moment,” Belle soothed, patting her friend on the knee as the woman leaned back into Lisa’s arms.  “You’re doing great.  Almost there.”  She smiled.  “She’s got a full head of black hair.  No wonder you’ve had such bad heartburn.”

 

TJ let out another scream as a contraction gripped her.  “Not funny, Belle!  Aaarrragh!”

 

“Sorry!  Ok and … push!”  She apologized for the quip and gently placed her hand beneath the baby’s head as it began to slip from its mother.  “Hold it, TJ!  Keep pushing … just a bit longer.”  Belle wiped blood and mucus away from the baby’s eyes and couldn’t help the huge smile that blossomed on her face.  “The head is out, TJ!!  Deep breath.  Next contraction and we’ll have her shoulders out.  You can do it!”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

In the gate room, Calvos nodded to Kiva as the screen on the console flashed.  “Transfer complete.”

 

The Lucian war mistress nodded towards the doors, a smug smirk upon her thin lips.  “Open them.”

 

Calvos entered the commands and all the doors around the gate room whooshed open.  Outside, Vanessa and three of her fellow soldiers stood at attention, hands behind their heads as Young had commanded, ready to be taken into the Lucians’ custody.  The enemy surged forth from the gate room and bundle them away, more setting out in teams to round up the remainder of Destiny’s crew.  
  
Near the gate room, Young and Camille waited patiently with Scott and Greer, the latter garbed in spacesuits, the helmets tucked under their arms.  Kiva, Dannic and a couple of her henchmen arrived. One of the men didn’t waste any time disarming the colonel, patting him down thoroughly as he checked for hidden weapons.

 

They all looked up as the lights fritzed and went out.  Scott suppressed a nervous sigh and looked anxiously at Greer, who returned it.  A few moments later, the lights flickered and came back on.  Kiva activated her radio and commanded Calvos to open the doors to the damaged section where the two men would access the outside of the ship.  


The doors opened behind Scott and Greer and Young nodded to them.  “Forty-six minutes, gentlemen.”

 

“Yes, sir,” Scott replied, donning his helmet as the doors closed behind them, sealing them in.  
  
Kiva lifted her radio to her mouth.  “They're in.”

 

She watched with mild disinterest through the window as they checked one another’s connections to ensure that they were fitted properly.  Calvos’ firm tone filtered over the radio.  “Attenuating the shield strength in that compartment.”

 

Telford, still in the gate room, used the distraction to slink away without anyone seeing.

 

“Dialing back artificial gravity,” the Lucian continued.

 

A moment later, Greer gave a slight hop and began to rise up into the air.  


X*X*X*X*X

 

Telford made his way into the corridor again, this time unworried that he’d be caught with most of the Alliance off rounding up the crew of the Ancient ship.  He entered a small room off the corridor housing electrical conduits.  He went inside and tried to tug one of the devices off the wall to disrupt power flow, but couldn’t seem to budge it.  He slammed his hand angrily against it, breathing heavily and then finally pulled his pistol from the waistband of his jeans and cocked it.  David slipped back out of the room, using the bulkhead for cover and fired into the conduits in rapid succession, sending sparks flying in all directions.

 

Glancing behind him, to make sure he was still alone in the corridor, David returned his pistol to the waistband of his jeans and headed back in the direction of the gate room.

 

Calvos activated his radio as warnings flashed across his console.  “Commander, one of the power relays just went down.”  


Kiva frowned darkly at the device in her hand and walked back towards the gate room, leaving Dannic to watch over Camille and the colonel.  “Have the crew members all been accounted for?”

 

One of her lieutenants responded promptly.  “We’re doing a head count now.”

 

“Keep me informed,” she commanded.  “I want to know if there are any stragglers left to ambush us.”  She thought back to the fiery little scientist posing as military who’d killed two of her men and injured two others.  “Especially, Dr. French.  I want to see her immediately.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Telford strolled back into the gate room, as nonchalantly as possible so as not to make the Lucians suspicious and made his way over to the console where Calvos was working busily at the controls which beeped negatively at him.  “Something wrong?” he asked, leaning over the man’s shoulder to see what the problem was.

 

The man cast Telford a cautious look.  “We just lost a power relay.”  
  
“Well, why aren't you dealing with it?” he asked, using the voice that usually left his subordinates quaking in fear.  
  
Calvos ignored him and continued working at the console until Telford cleared his throat.  “Go. Go. I can open and close doors.”  
  
The man still looked hesitant, but finally Calvos picked up his radio and hurried away. Checking to make sure there was nobody around to see him, Telford went to another console and began working at the keyboard. Files swarmed across the screens, transferring back to Rush’s control.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle cradled the baby close to her as Lisa helped clean TJ up and get her into a clean pair of fatigues.  It really was a pity she didn’t have a soft cotton nightgown to offer her.  She’d been right all along about it being a girl and she couldn’t wait for Young to meet her.  He’d insisted it would be a boy.  She doubted he’d care much one way or the other once he laid eyes upon the little cherub.  The baby cooed softly, her tiny hand latched around one of Belle’s fingers.  It made her have thoughts she really shouldn’t be entertaining at the present.  Thoughts of what their child would look like if she and Nicholas were to have one of their own.  Would he even want to have a child with her?

 

Lisa let out a piercing shriek as a shot rang out in the corridor.  Belle curled around the baby, hurrying over to the other side of the bed where she could take shelter to protect her charge.  “Sorry!! Sorry!!” she heard Volker cry out as footsteps pounded the metal floor.  “I didn’t know it was you!”

 

“For fuck’s sake, man!  Does your incompetence know no bounds!?” Rush snarled, his brogue thick with his ire.  “You could have bloody well shot one of us!”

 

“Rush!” Belle said, making her way to the door.  There was a bounce to her step as she tried to soothe the baby, her little whimpers not yet full blown cries.  “You’re upsetting the baby.”

 

He froze on the threshold, his mouth going slack as he took in the sight of his darling girl with the baby in her arms.  “Belle …” he said, her name prayer-like on his tongue.  Even disheveled and worn from the ship’s upheaval and helping her friend deliver her baby, she was still the most beautiful sight he’d ever beheld.

 

“TJ had her baby?” Brody whispered, his voice filled with wonder.

 

“Yes, dearie,” Belle muttered in a dry tone, smirking up at him.  “Isn’t she wonderful?”  She sidled up to Rush and held out the cooing little bundle.  “Here, Nicholas, hold her.”

 

“I-I-I … no, really … what if I drop her … Belle!  I don’t do babies!” he protested, trying to ignore the warmth flooding his chest as her dark eyes stared up at him trustingly.  His wizened features cracked and softened as his heart melted with love for the little one.

 

Brody, Volker and Park stared wide-eyed as their cantankerous and disagreeable boss smiled – not smirked! – at the bundle in his arms.  “Just think, Dr. Rush … you got to hold her before the colonel,” Volker sniggered.  And there it was … the smirk returned tenfold to the scientist’s mouth.

 

He made his way over to the bed to relieve his burden into her mother’s embrace.  “Lieutenant, I trust you’re well after your ordeal?”

 

TJ smiled down at her little girl and then up at Nicholas.  “I am, Dr. Rush. Thanks for asking.”

 

He nodded.  “Unfortunately, I need to drag Belle away.  There’s work to be done and I need her.  I trust you’ll be alright with Mr. Volker and Dr. Park?”

 

TJ nodded, sending a warm smile Belle’s way.  “Of course,” she said.  “We’ll be fine.”

 

Belle leaned down and brushed her lips first to the baby’s brow and then again to TJ’s cheek.  “I’ll be back when I can, ok?”

 

“Belle,” TJ said, reaching out and grabbing her hand to stop her, tears shining in her iolite eyes.  “Thank you.  I don’t know what I would have done without you here.”

 

“What are friends for, eh?” she winked and followed Nicholas and Brody from the room.

 

Brody offered Belle his canteen when they arrived in the lab and Rush sat her down on the stool behind the primary console.  “So, this is what you’ve all been doing?  You could’ve let us know,” he murmured, a little hurt that she hadn’t let him in on the big secret.

 

Belle drank deeply from the canteen before she shrugged helplessly.  “We couldn’t take the risk that Everett would find out.  You know he would have dropped everything and rushed to her side.  We couldn’t afford for him to lose his focus and become distracted.”  Rush switched on the console and her eyes flickered instantly to the screen to see the data swarming in rapid succession.  “What’s this?  Rush, what’s going on?”

 

“Not to worry, _mo chroí_ ,” he said, running a soothing hand over her long unbound hair as he set to work on the keyboard.  “We were forced to turn control over to the Lucians to gain access to a corridor.”

 

She sucked in a long breath, the air hissing through her teeth as she turned to glare at him.  “I beg your pardon?  You did not just tell me you handed over control of _our_ ship to the Lucian Alliance!” she ground out furiously.

 

“They only _think_ they have control over Destiny.  Don’t get your back up, Belle.”  He lowered his voice as he leaned into her, his lips brushing against the shell of her ear.  “I won’t let them take our home, my Belle … I promise you.  I _will_ protect you.”

 

She snorted, but instead of pushing him away, leaned into him, tucking her head beneath his chin as she sought comfort.  “Which is what got us into this to begin with.”  She fisted her hand in his shirt as he tried to pull back.  “I know why you did it, Nicholas, but it doesn’t make me any less furious.  Just … we’ll talk about this later, ok.  After everything that has happened in the last twenty four hours, I’m just not equipped for more drama right now.”

 

“Belle, your safety is paramount.  You have to understand.”

 

“I do.”  She sat up straight and watched the data transfer with a keen eye.  “So why did you need this corridor so badly that you’d risk a transfer of power?”

 

Rush sighed.  He knew that tone quite well.  It meant she wouldn’t discuss their relationship until _she_ was ready, his own wishes be damned.  She was doing it again, and though he didn’t like it one bit, he wouldn’t force her.  She would close herself off and not speak to him for days should he try.  It would just be better to focus on Destiny’s problems instead of their own.  “Scott and Greer needed to take a walk to manually reset the shield array.  The exit point closest to the array was only accessible from that corridor.”

 

Belle withdrew her small tablet from the inside pocket of her tactical vest and switched it on.  She pulled up the schematics of her beloved ship until she found the one she desired, then overlaid it with another.  She tapped the screen with a fingernail and traced the line with her finger.  “You could have gone in here and the Lucians wouldn’t have even known you’d been there.”

 

“What is that?  More maintenance corridors?” Rush asked, leaning in close to try to make sense of what she was showing him.  “Why didn’t this show up in the original diagram?”

 

Belle tilted her head to the side, lost in thoughtful reflection.  “Look at how cluttered it makes the schematic when they’re brought together.  That is why they’re separate, I believe.  But when the two are overlaid one atop the other, it gives you a better view of what is really there.  Most times you only need to see the main corridors … not what’s behind it.”

 

“This is why you shouldn’t be allowed out of the control room,” Brody said lightly, grinning at her from his own console.

 

“I’d have to agree with Mr. Brody,” Rush murmured, a proud smile curving his lips.

 

“Yeah, well … duty called.  So, how long do Scott and Greer have before the next pulsar burst?”

 

“Twenty two minutes.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Scott paused as they reached the round, raised illuminated array, nodding to Greer and circling around it, inspecting the small grooves in its circumference.    
  
“This is it?” Greer asked, his voice slightly distorted through the com link in the helmet.  
  
“Yeah. It's where he said it was gonna be.”

 

Scott squatted down next to the array as best as he could in the bulky spacesuit, depressing a large round button.  The central part of the array unlocked and began to rise into the air.  


X*X*X*X*X

 

In the gate room, Telford concentrated on the console, assuring that the transfer continued without interruption.  The skin prickled at the back of his neck, realizing too late that he was no longer alone in the room.  His whole world stopped as he turned, drawing his pistol as he did, and locked eyes with Kiva.  She too had drawn her own firearm, pointing it at him with a malicious grin.  Shots fired simultaneously and …  


X*X*X*X*X

  
“Nicholas,” Belle said, stifling a huge yawn behind her hand.  “I sent Eli a message from my tablet filling him in on what’s happening.  I warned him and Chloe to stay put.  I’m just glad they’re safe.”

 

He sat down beside her on the wide stool as he continued to watch the transfer of data.  “They’re better off in some isolated section of the ship than here with us, anyway.”

 

She propped her chin in her hand where she leaned on the console, fatigue and stress making her weary.  “I wish that third suit was ready for use.  Lisa’s been making strides in the repairs, but it still needs work.”

 

“Why?” Brody asked, curious as to what she could possibly have wanted with hit.

 

“Because then I could have gone out with Ronald and Scott.  It’s not fair they should have all the adventures.  Just think how exhilarating it must be to walk on Destiny’s hull, to be so vulnerable to the open space around it –“

 

“No.”

 

She turned her head back to Rush and arched a brow.  “What do you mean ‘no’?”

 

“You’ll don that bloody suit when you step over my dead rotting corpse to lay your hands upon it,” he said, a steely glint in his dark ocher eyes as he regarded her steadily.

 

“Oh, what colorful phraseology, darling.  Remind me to argue that point with you later,” she smirked, looking forward to another debate with him over something she wanted which he was strictly opposed.

 

The console beeped a warning and Rush froze, his mouth gaping open in alarm.  “No-no-no-no-no.”  
  
Belle felt adrenaline surge back through her veins, chasing away her grogginess.  “What happened?”  
  
Rush growled, “The transfer's just stopped.”  


X*X*X*X*X

  
The array rose until it was slightly taller than both men and hissed softly as it settled into position.  Scott took one side while Greer made his way around to the other.  They each grabbed a lever with both hands, millennia of disuse causing them to be stiff and nearly unresponsive, but they were finally able to maneuver them into a ninety degree angle with the device.  They gave each other a thumbs-up, then each reached for a second lever and pulled it down. In the area where the lever used to rest was a panel with an illuminated depiction ofDestiny’s outline.  They pressed carefully at the buttons on the panel, before bending down to push the levers back up into position again. Greer grimaced and bared his teeth as his lever stubbornly refused to budge. Scott, having apparently gotten his own lever up, made his way around to Greer's side.  
  
“What's the matter?” the lieutenant asked, a worried frown marring his brow as he looked between Greer and the direction from which they’d come, knowing time was of the essence.  
  
“It won't lock,” the master sergeant snarled, trying again to force it into place.  


Scott pressed the com button on the arm panel of his suit.  “Colonel Young, this is Scott. How're we doin' for time?”  
  
“Fourteen minutes.”

 

Scott moved closer to the lever and he and Greer both threw their weight into it, straining with the effort.  Finally it released and allowed them to wrangle it back into position.  The central device illuminated and Scott hurried to depress the mechanism that would lower it back into the hull.  They didn’t waste any time moving back towards the hull breach to get back inside.  


X*X*X*X*X

 

Calvos returned to the gate room, two of his compatriots following briskly at his heels.  He froze, staring dumbfounded at the sight of his commander and Telford lying motionless on the floor.  He hurried over to Kiva, rolling her over to find her unconscious and bleeding profusely from the bullet wound in her abdomen.

 

He quickly retrieved the radio from his belt.  “This is Calvos,” he said, looking over to where his other colleagues were examining Telford where he laid still in a widening pool of blood.  “Kiva and Telford have both been shot.  The commander is still breathing but unconscious.”  
  
In the corridor with Young, Dannic reached for his own radio.  “Get them to the medic.”  
  
“Yes, sir.”  
  
“Is there any sign of the enemy?” the Lucian asked, his eyes narrowing on Young.  
  
“None.”  
  
Dannic advanced on Young, his teeth clenched and bared.  “Where are your men?”  
  
“What?” Young asked, confused.    
  
“Your soldiers,” the man snapped impatiently. “How did they get into the gate room?”  
  
“I don't know what the hell you're talking about,” the colonel insisted.

 

Dannic reached over and snatched the radio from Young’s sleeve, handing it to his colleague.  He grabbed the colonel roughly by the elbow and pushed him ahead of him down the corridor.

 

Young glanced over his shoulder at the manic Lucian.  “I’ve got people outside this ship!”  
  
Dannic ignored him, shoving him forward.  Camille was urged to follow, though not as roughly.  “The enemy has somehow breached our lines. Both Telford and Kiva have been shot. I'm assuming command.”  


X*X*X*X*X

 

Scott breathed out a sigh of relief as they reached the hull breach where they would re-enter the ship.  He activated the com link on his suit.  “Uh, Colonel Young, this is Scott. We're ready to come back in. Lower the shield.”  He watched the hole expectantly, the shield shimmering brightly.  “I repeat: this is Scott, over.”  
  
Inside, Dannic heard Scott's voice from the radio, but resolutely ignored it as he continued prodding his prisoners down the corridor.  
  
Scott tried again, praying his suit wasn’t malfunctioning.  “The shield is still up. We cannot get back inside.”  
  
Young turned on his heel to face the Lucian.  “He just saved our damned lives. Lower the shield.”  
  
“Keep moving.”  
  
“Lower the damned shield!”  
  
Dannic closed the distance between them and backhanded Young across the face with the hand holding the radio, the sharp edges of the device digging into the colonel’s sensitive flesh.  Young collapsed to his knees, unable to stifle the groan that escaped his throat.

 

“Lower the shield!” Scott tried again, feeling the first twinges of panic clutch hard at his chest.  
  
“Try a different channel!” Greer suggested.  
  
In the lab, Rush reached for the radio clipped to Belle’s vest and hurried to adjust the channel, his hands shaking.  
  
“This is Scott.  _Please_  respond!”  
  
Finally Rush was able to get the dial to turn and held the radio up to his mouth.  “Lieutenant, something's gone wrong. We have to find you another way back inside the ship.”  
  
“No-no-no-no, there's no time for that, Rush,” Scott answered, a tremor of fear in his voice.  
  
“Whoa-whoa-whoa, what other way  _is_  there?” Greer cut in.

 

Belle laid a reassuring hand on Nicholas’s arm as she scanned through the schematic on his console, finally pointing to the next accessible entry point.  
  
“There's an airlock in the forward section,” Rush said, trying to keep his voice calm.  
  
“Yeah, we  _think_  it's an airlock,” Brody said flatly.  “It's in a totally unexplored part of the ship. Besides, we can't open it from here.”

 

Belle smiled.  “Eli.  Eli should be able to reach it from his position relatively easily.”  
  
Rush pressed the com button again, not hesitating to follow Belle’s direction.  “Lieutenant, I need you to head back towards the front of the ship.”  
  
“Negative. Negative” the lieutenant protested, weighing the distance against the time they had left.  
  
“Listen to me: that's the way in.”  
  
Greer shook his head.  “We're looking at the way in right now.”  
  
Belle took the radio from Rush.  “Ronald, stop bloody arguing!  You’re wasting precious time.  You need to go there as quickly as you can. Go right now!”  
  
Scott and Greer shared a look, hesitating for only a moment before they started off in the direction they’d been ordered.  “We’re on our way.”

 

X*X*X*X*X  


Eli’s head popped up alertly as the console nearby beeped.  He rose to his feet, leaving Chloe’s side.  She’d been shot in her upper thigh when they’d first fled during the initial attack and she was pale and listless.  He’d bandaged her wound as best as he could with no supplies, but there was little more he could do until Destiny had been reclaimed and the Lucian’s had been dealt with.  She regarded him through half-hooded eyes “What’s going on?” she asked weakly.  
  
“Uh, I'm getting a message.”  
  
“What's it say?”  
  
“That I've gotta go,” he said grimly, typing out a message.  “I’m telling them where you are, so you’ll be safe until they come.”  He hurried over to her, squatting down to cradle her face in his large hands.  
  
“Where are you going?” she asked plaintively.  
  
Eli ignored her and stared intently into her eyes, his thumbs brushing softly over her cheekbones.  “Whatever happens, you  _know_ , right?  You know that –“  
  
“Eli, you're scaring me,” she said, her voice little more than a whisper, but it was enough to distract him from a heartfelt plea that she wasn’t prepared to deal with.

 

He leaned forward and kissed her cheek before drawing away to meet her gaze once more.  “I’ve gotta go.”  He stood up and rushed down the corridor before he could say more, not trusting what would come out of his mouth.  He just knew if he didn’t leave now, he wouldn’t be able to drag himself away.

 

“Eli!!” she called after him.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

In the temporary medical bay set up by the Alliance, Calvos carried Kiva to a table that had been set up as a makeshift gurney, laying her upon it gently.  Varro rushed over, his face pinched in shock.  “Calvos, what happened?”

 

Telford was dragged in behind him and dumped unceremoniously on the floor.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

In the lab, Belle tracked Scott and Greer’s progress as best she could through sensors on the outside of the ship, wishing they’d thought to bring a Kino with them.

 

Rush checked his watch for the fifth time in three minutes, grumbling worriedly under his breath.  “Come on, come on.”

 

She reached up and pressed her fingertips to the tendon in his neck, instantly relieving the pressure building there.  He would be no good to them if he gave in to his stress.  “They’ll make it.”  


X*X*X*X*X

 

  
Outside, Scott and Greer trotted as fast as they could along Destiny’s iron grey hull.  


X*X*X*X*X

 

The doors to the Mess slid open and the civilians and military personnel assembled there stared anxiously as Dannic shoved Young roughly into the room where he crumpled to the floor.  “Separate the civilians,” he commanded of the handful of men who’d followed him into the room.  “Take them to another compartment.”

 

The Lucians began herding anyone not in uniform out of the room as Young looked up in concern, his nose bleeding from the cuts made by Dannic’s radio.  


X*X*X*X*X

 

Eli raced along the corridor and hurled himself at a ladder, climbing as fast as he could to reach the airlock in time, the seconds ticking away.  


X*X*X*X*X

 

In the medical bay, Varro lifted his radio to his mouth.  “Dannic, this is Varro.  What are you doing?”

 

Dannic snorted impatiently into his own.  “I’m putting an end to this.”  


Young stared at the Lucian emotionlessly, rising to his feet as the last of the civilians were ushered out of the room. 

 

Dannic and his men closed the doors behind them as they left the mess.  “Bring their injured soldiers to me.”

 

The Lucians in the med bay raised their rifles and began rounding up Riley and the others to do as ordered.  Carla, standing her ground despite her fear, backed away from Kiva where she’d been trying to assess her wound.  She knew there wasn’t much she could do, but they didn’t know that.  “N-Not if you expect me to try to save your c-commander.”

 

One of the Lucians strode over to Cpl Lipton and beckoned for him to stand.  The man slowly stood up … taking one step before rushing his enemy, grabbing at his arm as he tried to unarm him.  Lipton punched the Lucian, his fist connecting loudly with the Lucian’s nose and made another grab for the weapon.  They swung around wildly as the Lucian’s finger tightened on the trigger, a spray of bullets erupting from the muzzle of the rifle.  


Everyone dove for cover, some of their own volition, others caught by the projectiles fired from the gun.  Riley cried out as he went down.  At last Lipton managed to hurl the Lucian to the floor and wrestle the rifle away from him.  Swinging around, he fired down at the man just as Varro grabbed him from behind.  He pulled out his own pistol and rammed it into the corporal’s chest, pulling the trigger.  Blood sprayed in an outward arc, splashing into the Lucian’s face.  


Varro dropped Lipton’s body to the floor and looked around warily.  Koz got up to his knees where he had ducked down behind a crate, staring wild-eyed at the bodies littering the floor.  Several Lucians lay dead as well as Carla and their hope that she’d be able to save their commander.  


X*X*X*X*X

 

In the lab, Brody stared down at his console, frowning in concern.  He looked over at Belle and Rush, addressing the elephant in the room.  “They’re not gonna make it.”  


Belle lifted her chin obstinately, refusing to believe that.  “They will.”  


X*X*X*X*X

 

Eli slammed himself against another bulkhead, slapping impatiently at the door release mechanism.  The doors slid open and he pelted off down the next corridor towards the airlock.

 

Scott and Greer raced as fast as possible along the hull, the airlock in sight.

 

Back at the junction, where Eli had left her, Chloe whimpered softly, her eyes rolling back in her head as she lost consciousness.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

The Mess Hall doors slid open again to reveal a squad of Lucian mercenaries, their rifles raised.  One of them gestured to the soldiers inside to kneel and place their hands on their heads.  When they didn’t immediately comply, the Lucians moved amongst them, and pushed them down onto their knees.  


Everett stood proudly, front and center before his people, his hands folded in front of him, his determined gaze fixed straight ahead as he was ordered over and over again to kneel.  His thoughts centered on TJ, praying that she was safe, that somehow Belle had been able to protect her.  His head fell back onto his shoulders as he stared at the ceiling, waiting for the killing blow, his eyes filling with tears as regret clenched his gut.  Regret that he hadn’t been able to save his crew, that he hadn’t been able to say goodbye to the woman he loved – that he’d loved for longer than he could remember – that he’d never been able to see his child come into the world.

 

The lights flickered as the pulsar burst met violently with Destiny’s shields and cast them all into darkness.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I cannot even begin to tell you how much I struggled with this chapter. It had to be the most difficult one for me yet. I’m so glad to be moving on from it that I’m posting early so you won’t have to wait. I hope you enjoyed reading it more than I did writing it. UGH!! Please continue to share the love and review? Thank you all so much for your continued support and encouragement. You don’t know how much it means to me. Thanks so much for reading!!


	21. Intervention

 

Eli’s breath caught as the lights flickered out, a choked sob wrenching from his throat.  _Too late!  Too late!  Too late!_   reverberated in his mind as each one of his steps pounded the cold metal floor.  He ran faster than he ever had before, the need to save his friends spurring him on.  Finally, he reached the airlock, typing commands quickly into the wall panel next to the sealed metal door.  The gauge showed air being pumped into the room as he waited anxiously for it to reach the correct psi.  The indicator light blinked from red to green as the pressure equalized, and he spun the wheel in the middle of the door, yanking it open.

 

Eli stared in disbelief at the empty chamber.  Tears stung his eyes as he slumped against the wall and slowly slid to the floor, overwhelmed with grief.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Nicholas dropped down onto the stool next to Belle, taking comfort in her presence, his hip pressing into hers on the narrow seat.  She didn’t try to push him away, and for that he felt thankful.  He didn’t know how she could remain so focused on her work when so much had happened in the last twenty four hours.  She’d nearly lost him due to Telford’s treachery, she _had_ lost a dear friend of hers because of Kiva’s viciousness, she’d had to deliver TJ’s little one because they were cut off from HWC by way of the stones and now they waited with bated breath to discover if they were to lose more.

 

His arm slipped about her waist and he closed his eyes as she leaned into his side with a small sigh, reveling in her warm weight.  “Are you alright?” he whispered, brushing the hair away from her face so he could press a kiss to her temple.

 

She nodded, removing her hands from the console to fidget nervously in her lap.  “Just worried.”

 

He felt her stiffen, becoming instantly alert as Brody’s console beeped.  “We’re getting a message.  It’s Eli,” the engineer said, his dark eyes rising to meet Rush’s.  “They didn’t make it.”

 

Belle clasped tightly to her lover’s hand, her eyes welling with tears.  “No, no, I refuse to believe that.  They can’t be gone … Nicholas,” she sobbed as his arms went around her.

 

“There just wasn’t enough time,” he soothed, unable to believe they’d lost two more of their own.

 

Silence fell heavily in the lab, Belle’s quiet sobs muffled against Rush’s shoulder.  The crackle of his radio, where it sat atop the console, sent a startled jolt through her and his arms tightened about her.  “This is Scott.  Come in please!”

 

Her hand closed over it, shaking as she activated the com button.  “Matthew!  Where are you?  Is Ronald alright?”

 

“Well, we’re still outside.  I had a hunch we weren’t gonna make it to the airlock in time, so we made a beeline for the underside of the ship,” the lieutenant explained.  “I’m guessing the hull protected us.”

 

Rush laughed in relief as Belle squeezed his hand.  He took the radio from her.  “I guess it did! Well, the radiation spike has passed. You should be safe to make it to the airlock now.”  
  
“Roger that,” Scott agreed. “We're on our way.”

 

Rush returned his radio to the console just in time to end up with an armful of Belle, her slender arms curling tightly about his neck.  He shot a look at Brody, but the man was busy with his work and not paying them the slightest bit of attention.  “It’s alright, _mo chroí_ … they’re alive … it’s alright,” he cooed against her hair as she buried her face in the crook of his neck.

 

Belle pulled away, brushing angrily at her tears.  She wasn’t sure how much more she could stand with the way things were going and she hated herself for giving into a moment of weakness.  “I’m just going to … check on TJ ok.”  He let her go without question, instinctively realizing she needed time to compose herself.

 

Nicholas sighed and turned back to the console.  There was still much work to be done.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Eli lifted his tear-stained face, his watery eyes staring up at the console as it beeped.  He scrambled to his feet, wiping at his cheeks with both hands as he moved over to it.  He took in the Ancient text and laughed, his body sagging with relief as he read the news that his friends had survived.  “Just another day in outer space!”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Colonel Young watched Dannic warily, still refusing to kneel before him.  He had to present a firm resolve, to give his crew hope even in the face of imminent death.  He could do no less for them, for TJ … for his child that he was never likely to see.

 

Varro barged into the mess and pulled his new commander aside.  “Dannic!”

 

The man stared Varro down, his lip twitching with suppressed rage.  “The military personnel are a liability and you know it.”

 

“Kiva’s still alive.  The medic, however has been injured; she was shot,” he said, trying to keep his tone low so as not to be overheard. “She’s dead.”

 

Everett’s head snapped up, the color draining from his face.  He surged forward, overcome with grief, loss and hatred for those who’d put them in this position.  Why had Belle let her out of her sight when she’d promised to protect her?  What had gone wrong?  He should have protected her better and the guilt that weighed him down shut out his good sense.  He slammed his fingers into Dannic’s throat and the man stumbled back into the bulkhead.  Young tackled him, dragging him to the floor and landing a blow to his jaw.  The other Alliance soldiers leapt forward, some training their weapons on the rest of Young’s crew, the others grabbing at Young as he grappled with Dannic.  Everett didn’t care as his hand’s closed around the Lucian’s throat.  


“You son of a … Son of a …!” Young wailed, tears welling in his eyes for what he’d lost.

 

Dannic scrambled to his feet, storming towards the struggling colonel.  “I want him dead!” he seethed, pointing a finger at him.

 

Young spat incoherent insults back at him as Varro grabbed Dannic and shoved him backwards towards the open door. “Listen to me!  _Listen_  to me!” he stressed.  He pushed his comrade out into the corridor and lowered his voice.  “We need their co-operation!  We can use the communication stones to get a team of doctors on board.”

 

“We can’t spare the men,” he hissed, his eyes flashing at Kiva’s first lieutenant.

 

“We can use some of _them_ ,” Varro said, gesturing to Young’s crew, still on their knees.  “It doesn’t matter what they report back.  There’s nothing anyone on Earth can do about this.”

 

Dannic glared back into the room at Young still fighting valiantly against his captor’s hold.  Finally he nodded his consent.  “Alright, but if Kiva dies, they _all_ die.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Eli laughed happily as he spun the wheel on the door to the airlock and pulled it open.  “Thank God!  I thought you two were fried for sure!” he said, greeting his friends as they stepped out and began to remove the helmets to their space suits.

 

“No, we’re fine,” Scott assured him.  
  
Greer snorted.  “I’d say we’re anything but fine!” he mumbled as he went over to help Scott out of his suit.

  
“What, you'd rather be back out there?!” the lieutenant asked disbelievingly.  He turned around so that Greer could work on the fastening on the back of his suit.

 

Chloe chose that moment to limp into the room.  “Eli?” she called, her voice still weak.

 

Eli turned, staring at her in amazement.  “Chloe?!”  He and the lieutenant hurried over to her as she smiled at Scott with delight.  She was pale, but nowhere near as awful as she’d been when Eli had left her.  
  
Scott caught her about the waist and held her close … or as closely as possible with his suit in the way.  “What happened?” he asked, worry evident in his voice.

 

Eli moved over to help Greer with his suit.  “She was shot in the leg!”

 

Chloe shot him a withering look.  “I’m OK, Eli, stop worrying.”  


“How are you even walking right now?” Eli gaped at her. “Ten minutes ago you were almost passed out.”  
  
Chloe shrugged, wishing he’d let the matter drop, but knowing when Eli was suspicious he was like a dog with a milk bone.  “I don't know. The bleeding stopped; I got my strength back.”  
  
“What?” Greer asked, baffled as he peeled off the top half of his suit and let it drop to the floor.  
  
Eli knelt down and began to untie the cord that he had cinched around the pad over her wound, gently peeling it back.  His youthful face registered the shock he was feeling as he looked up at her.  “You’re right, the bleeding has stopped.”

  
“You sure you're OK?” Scott asked, searching her pale countenance.  
  
“Yeah. I'm fine.”  
  
“Great!  Everybody’s fine!” Greer snarked, shooting Scott a look that clearly said they had other concerns that needed to be addressed.

 

Chloe crossed her arms over her chest.  “So … what do we do now?”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Rush looked up from his console briefly as Belle came back into the lab.  Her eyes were slightly puffy, but her shoulders were squared, her back stiff with determination as she sat down beside him.  “How’s Lt Johansen?” he asked.

 

Belle smiled.  “Doing well.  She and the baby are both resting.”  She couldn’t help but smile as she thought of the little cherub with her soft thatch of dark hair and apple cheeks.  She was looking forward to seeing how the baby would change things aboard the Ancient ship.  The little one had clearly already won over everyone who’d come in contact with her … the stoic Dr. Rush included.

 

“No further complications?” he asked, slipping his arm about her waist as he monitored the algorithms on the screen.

 

She shook her head.  “No, but when this is over, I want her doctor to come aboard and give her a full workup just to make sure.

 

The console beeped and Brody’s head popped up.  “What now?” he asked as it beeped again and the wall panel lit up.  His eyes snapped to the countdown clock over the door in surprise.

 

Rush smirked.  “Looks like it’s working.”

 

“What are you talking about?” Belle inquired, her brow furrowed as she wondered what she’d missed in the short time she’d taken to check on TJ.

 

Rush pointed to the Ancient digital clock over the door.  “With all the shield strength concentrated in the direction of the pulsar, the engines are protected enough to generate an FTL jump,” he explained.  


“Yeah, but that's a  _good_  thing, right?” the engineer asked. “I mean, this whole area of space is a dead zone. The sooner we get out of here, the better.”

 

Belle typed several commands onto the keyboard.  “Is it?” she murmured distractedly as she looked at the data.  “There are two planets in range.  One is completely locked out … the other is barely habitable.”  She frowned up at Rush as he hovered at her shoulder.  “If they decide to strand our people here, we need to make sure we can’t leave the area without them.  We need to finish this.”

 

Brody groaned and leaned an elbow on the console, propping his chin in his hand as he shot them both a level look.  “Yeah, but how?”

 

X*X*X*X*X

  
Scott and Greer, back in their fatigues and thankfully free of their heavy space suits, led Eli and Chloe along the corridors back towards the lab.  “Alright, we’re close enough.  You two meet up with Rush, and –“

 

“Whoa, whoa-whoa-whoa, wait a minute …” Eli protested, holding up his hands.

  
Scott shot him a quelling look.  “They will have figured out he's missing by now. They will be looking, so be careful,” he said, cutting the boy off.  
  
Chloe reached out and laid a hand on her lover’s arm. “Where are you going?”  
  
“Recon. We need to find out what's happening.”  
  
“Scott …” Eli said, raking a hand through his already mussed hair.  
  
“Eli,” the lieutenant sighed, “just go.”  
  
Eli snapped his mouth closed, realizing it would be pointless to argue and led Chloe off in the direction of the research lab.

  
X*X*X*X*X

 

Varro stared down at David Telford’s unconscious body as Dr. Brightman – who had been brought on board along with several others using the stones – pulled a pair of latex gloves from her hands.  “Is he going to make it?” he asked, nodding towards the injured colonel.

 

“Yeah,” she answered, wearily rubbing her hand over her brow.  “The bullet passed clean through.”

 

“Let me know when he wakes up. I wanna talk to him.”  
  
“Listen. Your commander wasn't so lucky,” she said, making him turn back to give her his attention.  “Doctor Finch is working on her right now, but it isn't looking good. We think the bullet may have lodged in her liver.”  
  
Varro cursed inwardly, knowing Dannic would use Kiva’s death to aid his own agenda.  “It would be in everyone's best interests if she survived.”  
  
“Yeah, I  _get_  that,” the doctor sneered, leaving him to go about his business. 

 

He shook his head sadly as he watched her move on to her next patient and left the infirmary, seeking out the little redheaded scientist in the control interface room where she manned the console.  “Report.”

 

She glanced up at him briefly before returning to the data scrolling on the screen.  “The countdown clock has started again. It's probably a result of the adjustments made to the shield.”

 

“How long 'til we jump?”  
  
Ginn glanced up at the clock over the door.  “Just under thirty minutes.”  
  
Varro’s radio crackled to life.  “Varro, this is Doctor Brightman.”

 

“Go ahead,” he said as he pressed the com button.

 

The woman paused for a moment before an audible sigh filtered over the link.  “I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but we did all we could. It just wasn't enough. Your commander is dead.”  


X*X*X*X*X

  
Greer slapped a hand to Scott’s chest and pressed him against the bulkhead as two Lucians made their way down the corridor towards them.  He breathed a sigh of relief as they turned in the direction of the gate room before reaching the boy’s hiding spot.  It was dangerous for them to be creeping about risking capture.

 

They remained flattened against the wall for a moment, letting their heart rates return to normal from the near miss.  “We need weapons,” Greer stated simply.  “Without them we’re sitting ducks.”

 

Scott edged his way off the bulkhead and gestured Greer to follow him, whispering, “No, there’s something else we need even more.”  


X*X*X*X*X

  
“Shield strength is holding steady, Nicholas,” Belle murmured with a yawn, her head bent over the console.  Rush made some notes in his ever-present notepad and leaned in close to her to survey her work for himself.  There was no cause to do so and she knew he was just doing it to maintain their fragile connection.

 

Rush’s head jerked up, his ears pricking at the sound of the doors opening at the end of the corridor.  Belle was on her feet in an instant, edging towards the entrance to the lab as she drew her sidearm.  She held a finger to her lips, cautioning them to silence.  He whispered her name frantically, motioning her to come back, but she ignored him.  Brody remained where he was.  He was smart enough not to get in her way.

 

Belle pressed her back against the bulkhead and steadied her breathing, letting the calm sweep over her and focusing on her senses to guide her.  TJ and the baby were safe with Park and Volker, her room farther down the corridor.  Whoever had gained access to the lab would have to get by her first before coming upon them, and Volker had one of her pistols to offer what meager protection he could.  She sent Rush a blank look, just needing to see him once more before she took a deep breath, raised her 9mm and stepped outside.

 

Two ear-splitting shrieks met her ears, making her wince.  Chloe’s cut off as she recognized her friend, but Eli’s was a bit longer, his hands covering his head.  “Jesus, Belle!!!  Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

 

“Of for fuck’s sake, Eli!” Belle snarled, rolling her eyes as she grabbed a handful of his t-shirt and dragged him into the room.  “If you weren’t skulking through the corridors …” She let her voice trail off as she got a good look at Chloe.  “What the hell happened to you?”

 

Chloe cast her a sheepish grin, and limped into the lab behind Eli.  “Oh, nothing we need to worry about right now.  Just a little flesh wound.”

 

Belle arched a brow at the girl.  “Hmm,” she hummed in disbelief, knowing there was more to the story for her to ferret out later.  “Let me grab the kit from TJ’s room and I’ll have a look.”

 

Rush watched her go before giving his attention to the newcomers.  Chloe jumped in before he could say anything.  “What are we doing to get the ship back?”  
  
Brody sniggered, causing the two to look at him querulously.  
  
“What?” Eli asked suspiciously.

 

Brody waved a hand at Rush.  “Don’t look at me.  It’s _his_ idea.”  
  
Rush sat back down at his console and rubbed at his left temple.  “Colonel Telford's efforts to divert control were not entirely in vain. We still have a limited ability to manipulate power distribution, so I've begun a slow process of sequestering power away from the shields.”  
  
Eli shook his head, staring at him incredulously. “The same shields that are protecting us from the deadly pulsar radiation?!”  
  
“That's right.”  
  
Brody smirked at them from his console. “Like I said,  _his_  idea.”  
  
Rush folded his hands in his lap and shot the boy a level look.  “Well, if I don't do it, the ship is going to jump.”  
  
“Uh,  _good_!”  
  
“No-no-no-no-no, Eli, you don't understand. You see, that pulsar levels the playing field. It's just as deadly to them as it is to us. Once they realize what's happening, they'll have no option but to deal.”

 

“Eli, what have I told you about arguing with Nicholas,” Belle asked as she breezed back into the room and ushered Chloe to sit down so she could see to her leg.

 

“But –“ the boy protested.

 

Belle ignored him, focusing on Chloe.  Her brow furrowed as she pulled the bandage away from the girl’s leg and looked at the pink scar tissue instead of a gaping bullet wound.  Her striking cerulean eyes met the girl’s, fear shining in their depths as she leaned in close.  “How long ago were you shot?” she whispered, grateful for once that Eli had chosen to ignore her advice and continued to argue with Rush.

 

“Just after the Alliance came through the stargate.”

 

Belle glanced over her shoulder at Rush and reached for a roll of linen bandage from the kit at her side.  She wrapped it about Chloe’s leg, shooting the girl a warning look.  “Say nothing.  When this is over, you and I will need to sit down with Nicholas and have a talk.  Understand?”

 

Chloe nodded and breathed her first easy breath in several hours, her hope restored.

  
X*X*X*X*X

  
Varro’s distrustful gaze followed Dannic’s every move as the man continued to pace manically about the control room.  “We need to kill them all,” the new commander intoned as he turned to face them.

 

Varro shook his head.  “The original plan was to keep some of the scientists and drop the rest on a habitable planet,” he insisted, reiterating Kiva’s orders though she was no longer with them.  She hadn’t been much more stable than Dannic, but at least she’d been able to see the bigger picture.

 

Simeon came into the room, catching the tail end of Varro’s statement.  “The original plan didn’t involve Kiva being killed.”  
  
Varro cast the newcomer a scathing glance.  Simeon was a trained killer.  Not only that … the man seemed to revel in it.  He didn’t need to be anywhere near Dannic to egg the man on in his lust for power.  “I admit, it may have been optimistic to expect any of them to work with us, but going on a bloody rampage now isn't gonna solve anything.”  
  
Simeon snorted angrily, his teeth curling back over his teeth in a sneer. “You got another idea?”

 

“Um …” Ginn said softly.  She hated to interrupt and bring attention to herself, but she felt the information she’d found was pertinent.  “We found two addresses we can dial from this position. One is currently locked out, probably because it's at the extreme range of the gate, but I can get around that if necessary.  The second one isn’t much better from what I can see by the readings.”  
  
“We check it out. If it's viable, we send 'em - everyone except the doctors,” Varro said. “They're still working on some of our men.” 

 

“What about Rush and the others that are still missing?” Simeon asked, leaning back against one of the consoles.  
  
“Search parties will find them.”

 

Scott zoomed in with the Kino he’d sent through the air duct to spy on the Lucians, making certain he’d pressed the record button on the remote.  He turned to Greer as they backed out of their hiding space.  “We’ve gotta tell the others.”

  
X*X*X*X*X

 

Telford groaned as his eyes fluttered open, the pain in his side making his face twist up into a mask of pain.  Bodies littered the room and he realized he was in some sort of recovery room.

 

“He’s back,” Simeon sneered as he moved to the end of the colonel’s bed and into Telford’s line of sight.

 

“Simeon,” David acknowledged, slowly propping himself up on an elbow.  “What happened?”

 

“I was hoping you could tell  _me_.”  


Telford looked down at his bandaged midriff, pulling a face as he tried to get his thoughts – his story – together.  “Where’s Kiva?”  


Simeon’s eyes narrowed as he tried to read the other man.  “Dead. She was shot, just like you, but we're a little unclear on the details.”

 

Telford took a few deep breaths, trying to look as if he were working his way through his memories of the time in question.  Finally, he gave the Lucian what he hoped was a blank look.  The last person he needed to doubt him was Simeon.  If he did, he was surely as good as dead.  “We were in the gate room, we were attacked. They came out of nowhere.”  
  
“ _They_? There was more than one? ”  
  
“I'm not sure,” Telford answered with a slight shake of his dark head.  
  
“Did you see them?”  
  
“No.”  
  
Simeon toyed with the safety on his rifle, the threat clear. “Interesting. Because you weren't shot from behind.”  
  
“It was dark. It happened fast. I saw Kiva get shot, I turned … Everything went black.”  Simeon still didn’t look convinced.  Telford took a swift cursory glance about the room, knowing he’d already said too much.  “What's going on with the ship? What's the situation?” he said, changing the subject.  
  
“The ship is ours. The shields are repaired. It's over”.  
  
“What about Colonel Young and his crew?”  
  
A sinister smile curled the Lucian’s mouth, sending a chill down David’s spine.  “We won't have to worry about them too much longer.”  


X*X*X*X*X

  
Young didn’t move as the door to his cell whooshed open and Varro stepped inside.  After his outburst in the mess when he’d nearly strangled Dannic, he’d been removed from his crew.  It was better for everyone, he supposed.  It gave him time to grieve in relative privacy.  It was his fault.  He and TJ had been doing so well, were so looking forward to welcoming their child into the world even if they were trapped aboard the Ancient spaceship and couldn’t have a normal life.  They were content to make the best of it until they could find some way to go home to Earth.  Now he had nothing but worthless recriminations that wouldn’t make the pain go away.  He’d failed his family and his crew in one fell swoop and there was no way to go back and change things.

 

A sob rose up in his throat, choking him, but he refused to let the Lucian lieutenant see his pain and grief.  “What do you want?” he asked coldly, bitter towards the man and his comrades.  Out of all the Alliance members swarming through the corridors like locusts, Varro seemed the most level-headed.  It still didn’t mean he wanted to talk to the man.

 

“We’ve found a planet with a breathable atmosphere.  We’re putting you and your people off the ship,” he said, standing before Young warily.  It wouldn’t do any good for the man to attack him, but it wouldn’t surprise him if he did.

 

Everett stared down at his hands, clasping them before him as his elbows rested on his knees.  “There is no way you have had enough time to determine long-term viability.”  
  
Varro sighed, truly sorry he didn’t have better news for the colonel. “There's not a lot of options here.”  
  
“It's a death sentence.”  
  
“Not necessarily.”  He paused in his pacing as he noticed Young eyeing the pistol in the holster on his belt.  “Now you're thinking you've got nothing to lose. You could jump me, take my gun and kill the guard outside, but how far do you  _really_ think you'd get? You'd be shot, and your people would still be sent to the planet, only without their leader. For  _their_  sake, I recommend you stay alive.”  
  
Everett nodded, following the Lucian out into the corridor where an armed escort awaited to take him to the gate room.  His people were already there, making their way through the stargate, some laden with cases full of what meager supplies the Alliance allowed them.  He did a quick mental count as they stepped through the event horizon, taking note of those still hiding somewhere on board.  Despite the fact that they’d been getting along better of late, he hated to think that his fate rested in the hands of Nicholas Rush.

 

He followed his crew up the ramp, pausing before the puddle to turn for one last look at the ship he called home.  He remembered the blast on Icarus hurtling him through the gate, their fight for survival, those he’d lost and all the memories he’d shared with his people.  He said a silent prayer for TJ and the baby, wishing he could have saved them.  His eyes briefly met Dannic’s, the man looking as if he wanted Young to try and start one last fight.  Finally, Everett turned and stepped through the gate, leaving Destiny behind.  


Young emerged from the gate onto a bleak world … rocky terrain, grey cloud-laden skies and desolation.  The area around the stargate was barren of vegetation with no sign of flora anywhere within view.  A brisk wind battered his military jacket and he fought off a shiver, wondering if it were always that cold.

 

He ambled forward towards his people, reaching out a hand to steady Riley as he limped beside one of the scientists.  The boy had seen better days.  His head wound had broken open again and blood dripped steadily down the side of his face.  He rubbed his hands against the cold as he offered a weak smile to his commander.    


“Hey, sergeant,” Young said, barely recognizing the raspy croak of his own voice, “how are you feeling?”

 

“I'll be all right, sir,” Riley assured him, putting on a brave face as always.  His gaze surveyed their immediate surroundings before settling once more on Young.  “Nice place.”

 

“Looks like a storm’s coming,” Vanessa said, pointing to the horizon where storm clouds were gathering.  Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled ominously as if to confirm her theory.  
  
Everett sighed and gathered his military bearing about him like a cloak.  He couldn’t allow his grief to stop him from helping those who’d been left in his care.  “We need to find shelter, fast.”

  
X*X*X*X*X

  
Eli chewed nervously on his thumbnail as he paced around the lab.  “Where the hell are Scott and Greer?” he asked, throwing his hands up in agitation.  “They should have been back by now.”

 

Belle nibbled idly on some dried fruit she’d shoved into her tactical vest earlier when she’d gone to the mess, passing some to Rush every now and then when she could coax him into eating some.  “Eli, you need to calm down.”

 

“Splitting up never works! Everyone knows this!” he hissed.

 

“Are you going to regale us with more of your movie euphemisms?” Rush snarked, popping a piece of dried apricot – or the closest they’d get to apricots in deep space – into his mouth.

 

Belle nose wrinkled up as she tilted her head to the side.  “Henry always like this one particular cartoon where they were always splitting up … um … I think there was a dog?”

 

Eli rolled his eyes.  “Belle, there is just something so tragic in the fact that you don’t even know what Scooby Doo is.”  Before she could answer with more than her tinkling laughter, the bulkhead lock in the corridor whirred and the sound of the doors sliding open distracted him.  “It’s gotta be them,” he said.  


Rush shared a worried look with Belle as the boy made his way out into the corridor.  He was back a moment later, hands raised.  “No, no, not them!” he squeaked, his voice rising in panic as he was led back into the room at gunpoint.

 

One of the Lucians nodded at Rush and Belle.  “Back away from the consoles.”  Brody complied, as did Rush, but Belle was a bit slower to do as they asked.  She warily watched the other soldier lift the radio and activate it.  “Dannic, come in.”

 

The Lucian commander replied swiftly.  “Go ahead.”

 

“We’ve got Rush and four others.”  
  
“Well done,” Dannic commended.

 

Belle’s lips split in a feral grin as she took in the pair.  “Do you?” she asked, reaching for her weapons.

 

X*X*X*X*X

  
The grin slid off of Dannic’s face, his satisfaction over Rush’s capture diminished as the countdown clock above the door in the control room beeped momentarily and switched off, the bright yellow numbers going dark.  “What happened?”  


“I'm not sure,” Ginn said, a note of panic rising in her tone.  “The countdown has stopped.”  
  
“Well, start it again,” the commander snarled.  
  
Her fingers frantically plucked at the controls.  “I can't.”  
  
“Stand by,” he growled into the radio as he walked around behind Ginn.  
  
She could feel the fine hairs stand to attention on the back of her neck at having the man so close to her, and could taste the metallic twang of fear flood her mouth.  “T-The radiation must be affecting the engines again.”  
  
“You said the shield would prevent that.”  
  
“It  _should_. I don't understand it.”  
  
“Then what  _good_  are you?”  Her eyes blew wide with terror as he seized her about the throat, pushing her back against the bulkhead.  Her fingers, with their sharp little nails, were useless as they tried to pry his meaty hand from her neck.

 

Varro stormed across the room, shouting the man’s name.  “Dannic!  Dannic!”  
  
The commander’s head swung around to glare at him for a moment before he threw the girl brutally to the floor.  He moved away from her and reached for his radio once again.  “Bring Rush to the gate room. I have some questions for him.”

 

“I’m sorry, but I’m afraid your men are in no condition to acquiesce to your request,” came a lightly accented voice.

 

“Who is this?” he hissed.

 

“This is Dr. Belle French.  Rush will not be acceding to your request either, so I suggest you make other arrangements.”

 

The man’s teeth gnashed together, the tick in his jaw evidence of his rage, as the line went dead.  His dark eyes stabbed the few soldiers in the room.  “Find them …” he said with quiet menace.  “Bring Rush to me and kill the rest.”  


X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle placed herself between the Lucians and Rush as they shoved Eli forward, sending him to his knees.  She complied with their request to step away from the console, steadily pushing back into Rush.  She could feel his unease as her body came in contact with hers, his muscles tense.  It was never good when he was wound so tightly.  It made him unpredictable and that was one thing that set her teeth on edge.

 

His hand went to Belle’s hip, using just the slightest pressure to get her to move behind him, but she wouldn’t budge as she stared back at the pair.  The man lowered his radio after receiving instructions from his commander, raising his weapon and pointing it at Belle.  Rush held up his free hand.  “You don’t want to kill anyone,” he said, his tone barely disguising the fear in his tone.

 

Apparently he was wrong.  Rush’s hand moved from Belle’s hip along her lower back to where a pistol was tucked into the double holster there, his fingers curling around the butt.  


The Lucian’s finger tightened around the trigger, preparing to squeeze, but he never got a chance.  Scott and Greer rushed into the room and tackled his comrade.  Belle drew her sidearm at the same time the first man fired off the shot, his aim off and the bullet pinging off the bulkhead behind her.  She felt Rush draw the pistol off her back and fire at the same time she did.  The man dropped like a stone, her bullet lodged into his right forearm, sending his weapon clattering across the floor, Rush’s embedding itself in the man’s shoulder.

 

Scott scrambled for the fallen man’s weapon as Greer landed a blow to his opponent’s face.  He grappled with the Lucian for the gun, the man’s finger squeezing hard on the trigger.  Eli shuffled over to Chloe, still on his hands and knees, to offer what cover he could.  Greer wrestled the Lucian’s arm to the floor, pinning it long enough for Scott to grab his pistol.  Several well-aimed blows to his face finally rendered the Lucian unconscious and the marines sat and shared a rather satisfied grin.

 

Rush spun Belle around, his eyes searching for any sign of injury.  “You ok?” he asked, huffing a relieved sigh when she nodded.  He turned to the others.  “You all ok?”  
  
Belle retrieved the Lucian’s radio from his belt when it crackled, a sly grin on her face as she listened to Dannic’s voice filter over the link.  “I’m sorry, but I’m afraid your men are in no condition to acquiesce to your request,” she returned in a smug tone.

 

“Who is this?” he hissed.

 

“This is Dr. Belle French.  Rush will not be acceding to your request either, so I suggest you make other arrangements.”

  
Belle shrugged as Rush shook his head at her and held out a hand for the radio.  “Dannic, this is Rush.”

 

In the control room, Varro knelt at Ginn’s side as she sat half-stunned against the wall.  He straightened up as he heard Nicholas’s voice.

 

“I’m sorry to say your men were unable to carry out their orders,” he said, confirming what Belle had said moments ago so the man wouldn’t be in doubt.  “By now, you’ll have noticed that the countdown has stopped.  That’s because I’ve been draining power from the shields and I will continue to do so until your men lay down their weapons.”  
  
“You and your people would die with the rest of us,” the Lucian commander snarled into his radio.  
  
“We're willing to die to prevent you taking over this ship. Can you say the same?”

 

Dannic, in a burst of fury, hurled his radio across the room, the device smashing to bits against the bulkhead.  He turned his murderous gaze on Simeon.  “Find them … Now!”  


Simeon stood up from where he was lounging against a console and strolled out of the room, leaving Varro to deal with their commander.  “Dannic, listen to me …”

 

Dannic, having had quite enough of the lieutenant, snatched a pistol from his belt and aimed it at Varro.  “This is your fault. If you had listened to me from the beginning, we wouldn't be in this position.”  He nodded to one of his soldiers and ordered, “Take his weapon.”

  
X*X*X*X*X

  
Belle took the 9mm from Rush, her eyes alight with admiration for her lover.  “Where did you learn to shoot like that?” she asked, checking the chamber, securing the safety and returning it to her holster.  She did the same with her own.

 

Nicholas shrugged, grinning sheepishly.  “I thought it would be wise to learn, and then when I joined Icarus I took a refresher course.”  He lowered his voice as he tilted her chin up to meet his gaze.  “You’re mighty handy with your weapons considering you disdained the same course.  You wouldn’t even touch the pistol I had, nor would you venture too close to the firing range.  Are you sure you’re alright?”

 

“I’m fine,” she assured him.  “I’m just trying to protect our people, Nicholas.  Greer went to the trouble to train me … I won’t let it go to waste.”

 

She moved back to the console and checked her readings again as well as making sure neither of the stray bullets had damaged their equipment.  His eyes followed her, an odd feeling settling in his stomach.  In all the time he’d known her, he’d never seen her so determined, so set on a course of action.  She’d always been quiet and efficient, sweet and reserved.  She’d been his friend and colleague long before he’d come to love her romantically, but Destiny had changed her.  She no longer belonged solely to him.  She cared for the crew, went out of her way to help wherever she was needed … not just in the science department.  His Belle was loved by all, was the crew’s confidant, their friend, their shoulder to cry on and their morale.  Now he had to share her and he wasn’t so certain he liked it.

 

Scott and Greer came back into the room, having locked the two Lucians in one of the spare crew quarters several doors down from TJ until they could figure out what to do with them later.  Scott wasted no time in explaining what he and Greer had overheard on the Kino.

 

“What do we know about the planet?” Eli asked, worried about the rest of the crew who’d been stranded there.

 

“Not much. Presumably it has a breathable atmosphere. Other than that …” Scott shrugged.

 

“We have to do something,” Chloe said, looking at the others with determination.  
  
“Amen,” Greer added, ready to spring into action.  He was never happy being idle.  
  
Rush shook his head.  “No-no, this is perfect. It couldn't have worked out better.”  
  
Greer arched a brow at the scientist, his eyes narrowed.  “We can’t just leave them stranded down there.”

 

“Ronald,” Belle bit out warningly, “don’t start.  No one is suggesting that we leave them there, least of all Nicholas.”  
  
“Yeah, but the ship won't jump. We can pick them back up later. Plus the planet is out of range of the pulsar. Believe me, they're better off,” Rush said.  
  
Eli grimaced, his boyish features twisting with dread.  “What does that say for the rest of us?!”  
  
“We've done some calculations,” Brody added, leaning his palms against his console.  “Certain areas of the ship are better protected than others because of their location within the hull – hydroponics for one. We go there, seal ourselves in, we might be able to outlast them.”  
  
Eli looked at each of them in turn, aghast at their newest plan.  “But what about the damage to the ship itself? Without the shields, the next pulsar blast is gonna …”  
  
Belle cut him off.  “The damage will be minimal. Organic matter will suffer the most.”  She rubbed a weary hand over her brow.  “Believe me, I won’t feel the least bit of remorse to see them fry.”

 

Rush switched to Ancient.  “ _Belle!  Mo stór, what is wrong with you?  This isn’t like you to want to see_ _–_ “

 

“ _Not now, Nicholas.  When this is over and I have time to actually sit down and think about what I’ve done and how I feel, you will be the first person I share it with,_ ” she answered, glowering at him.  “ _This is war_ _… or have you somehow forgotten_?”  There was still the matter of what he himself had done that still needed to be addressed, and that thought alone made him clench his teeth and hold his tongue.

 

He crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes meeting Eli’s across the room.  The boy had been studying Ancient and no doubt had understood every word, but was wise enough not to comment.

 

“Wait a minute,” Scott interjected, ignoring the strife between the lead scientist and his assistant.  “Not everyone’s been sent off the ship.  He mentioned something about doctors …”

 

Brody nodded.  “They might have used some of our people to get extra medical personnel on board with the stones.”

 

“Well, we can't just leave them out there – not if we're gonna go through with this,” Chloe protested, unable to bear the thought of losing any more of their people.

 

“Alright,” Scott said, shouldering the rifle he’d taken from the Lucians.  “Greer and I will go get them.”

 

“And me,” Belle said.  “With TJ out of commission, you might need me.  I can at least keep someone from bleeding out before they get proper help.  There’s no guarantee the Lucians haven’t already severed the connection with the stones.  Our people will be scared and confused as to what’s been happening.”

 

“What’s wrong with TJ?” came four different panicked voices.

 

“Erm … well,” Belle hedged.

 

Brody chuckled.  “Belle delivered TJ’s baby.”

 

“What?”

 

“When?”

 

“Is she ok?”

 

Scott was the last to ask what the rest of them were thinking.  “Does the colonel know?”  


Belle shook her head, her nose wrinkling as she felt a healthy dose of guilt seize her.  “No, we didn’t think he could afford the distraction.”  She held up a hand before the questions could begin again.  “She’s fine and so is the baby.  Volker and Park are watching over her.  Chloe, I think it would be best to lend them a hand to move her to hydroponics.”

 

“Of course,” Chloe agreed, thrilled and excited to see the baby.  At least something good had come from all the turmoil.

 

Rush caught her hand before she could leave with the two marines.  “Belle, you don’t need to go with them.  They’re more than capable of leading those left behind to the hydroponics lab.”

 

Belle turned her hand in his to clasp it and squeeze reassuringly.  “I’ll be fine, Nicholas,” she said gently.  She stepped closer to him, lowering her voice so only he could hear.  “Let me do this, let me feel useful … please?”

 

“I want you with _me_ , Belle.  I don’t trust them to keep you safe,” he murmured, his dark ocher eyes pleading with her not to go.

 

“I’ll be back before you know it, ok?  Trust me to watch out for myself.”  She pressed her brow to his and closed her eyes, taking comfort and hopefully giving it to him as well.  “Trust me, Nicholas.”

  
“Give us fifteen minutes to meet you back at Hydroponics,” Scott said, already moving towards the door.  Belle gave Rush a quick kiss before he let her go and she followed after the marines.  “After that …” he looked pointedly at Eli as he handed him the Kino remote.  “… seal the door.”

  
X*X*X*X*X

  
Colonel Young pulled his uniform jacket more securely about his torso and crossed his arms over his chest.  The wind had been growing steadily colder.  His people were bundled together for warmth, blankets – thank the gods the Lucians had let them bring some form of warmth – covering their shoulders.  He stood in the center of the group, his eyes scanning the horizon worriedly.

 

“Colonel!” Vanessa called from the ridge behind him, causing him to turn.  “We found a system of small caves just over that ridge … about two clicks!  Should be enough to shelter everyone if we break into smaller groups.”

 

Two loud cracks of thunder sounded, followed by lightning flashes, the second sending a large bolt down to the ground not far from the group.  It was enough to spur the colonel into action.  “That’s good enough!” he called back to her with an affirmative nod.  
  
His eyes narrowed on the gate as it began to spin, motioning for everyone to get back as it whooshed out and then settled back into the puddle.  Moments later Varro, Koz, Calvos and three other Alliance soldiers came through.

 

The Lucian lieutenant headed straight for Young.  “Dannic's taken control. These men were loyal to me.”

 

Young deliberately turned his back on the man and called out to his own crew.  “Alright, people, listen up!  We’re gonna move out, but stay together!  Let’s go!”

 

Another lightning bolt sizzled down from the sky and struck the ground, steam rising from the impact point as a second blast hammered down, hitting the ground near the group.  Everyone began to move off quickly, seeking shelter in the caves that might very well be their only salvation.  
  
“Colonel!” Varro shouted as Young moved off to follow his crew.  
  
Young refused to turn and look at the Lucians behind him, his footsteps heavy as he put one foot before the other and continued to move. “I've nothing to say to you.”

 

Varro finally lost his temper, shouting angrily.  “We’re here because I stood up for you!  He would have killed you all!”

 

Young stopped and watched his crew canter up the hill, still ignoring the lieutenant.  “Yeah, and the woman I loved, my child, would still be alive if your people hadn’t wanted to take something that didn’t belong to them.”  


X*X*X*X*X

 

Greer stopped at the locked bulkhead and made sure Belle’s tactical vest was securely strapped.  The Kevlar plating would keep her safe as long as she didn’t take a shot to the head or neck, he reasoned.  “You sure you want to do this, Miss Belle?” he asked, his lips turned up in a knowing grin.

 

She had TJ’s smallest kit packed with only the most necessary items, knowing there would be more if she needed them in the infirmary.  “Yes, Ronald, I’m sure.  Can we go now?” she asked impatiently.

 

“Are your weapons hot?” Scott asked, checking his own.

 

She patted the sidearms at each of her hips and made sure the two at her back were easily accessible.  “Check.”

 

“Keep low and obey Scott without question,” Greer instructed. 

 

“Got it.”

 

“Alright, let’s go.”

 

Belle was the last one out the door, bringing up the rear.  The last thing she saw was Nicholas hovering in the doorway to the lab, his jaw clenched and his face pinched with pain, his eyes roving over her face as if he were trying to memorize each of her features.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Camille – now back in her own body – scrubbed furiously at her blood-stained hands in a bowl of water.  It was everywhere.  She wasn’t the squeamish type, not really, but to awaken from the stones covered in it and not even having anyone available to tell her what was going on … 

 

She startled violently as a shot rang out in the corridor followed by several more.  A Lucian soldier stumbled backwards into the room, propelled backwards by the shots hitting his body.  She took cover behind an empty gurney, gasping in terror as the man crashed to the floor several feet from her hiding spot.

 

Scott and Greer rushed into the room, aiming their weapons around in all directions, Belle running in after them.  “Camille, what are you doing here?” she asked, hurrying over to check on the woman.  Camille Wray wasn’t – nor would she ever be – Belle’s favorite person on the ship, but at a time like this she couldn’t afford to be petty.  “Are you ok?”

 

Camille grasped Belle’s hands in her own after the petite astrophysicist reloaded and then holstered her weapons.  Her hands shook and tears welled in her dark eyes.  “T-They used some of us to connect with a team of doctors - me, Kemp, Palmer, and Ryder.”  
  
Scott had Greer secure the room before calling to her over his shoulder.  “Alright. Where are the others?”  
  
“I don't know,” she said.  “Um, there were more injured and ... anyway, they, uh, severed the connection …”  


“Well, we can’t worry about that now … We've got company.” Greer warned, taking up a position by the door.

 

As Scott headed for the door, he pointed to Belle and Camille.  “You two, take cover … now!”  


He followed Greer to the doorway and headed out into the corridor.  Three of the Alliance soldiers approached and Greer fired off several shots, taking down the first one.  The other two Lucians took cover behind a protrusion in the bulkhead and returned fire, pinning the marines down.  The second Lucian circled around for a better angle and Scott took him down.  More of their comrades, having heard the commotion, joined the fray and Scott prayed they would be able to hold them off before they ran out of ammo.

  
X*X*X*X*X

 

“I can walk, Dr. Rush,” TJ said, blushing slightly as Nicholas lifted her in his arms – blankets and all – to carry her the short distance to the hydroponics lab.  Chloe stood nearby, the baby in her arms, cooing softly.

 

“I assure you, lieutenant, it’s no trouble at all,” he said with a small smile.  “You’ve just had a baby.  It won’t seem amiss if you let someone care for you for a bit.”  Besides, Belle would have his head if he allowed any harm to come to Tamara and her baby.

 

“Are you sure we’ll be safer in the hydroponics lab?” she asked, wrapping her arms about his neck.

 

He nodded.  “Yes, we need somewhere secure where we can seal ourselves in and wait them out.”  His tone gentled as he watched her eyes flit over to Chloe and the little one.  “Not to worry, now.  They will give in to our demands and you’ll be back in your own quarters with Colonel Young hovering over you like a mother hen in no time.”

 

He settled her in a corner of the lab on a low bench, leaving her with Chloe and Park while Brody locked the doors behind them and began the process of sealing them in.  The engineer stood on a small crate and set his torch to the bulkhead, welding the doors shut as he held up a hand to his face to protect it from the sparks it emitted.

 

Eli hovered nearby, pacing in restless agitation as he chewed on his thumbnails.  “Is that really necessary?”  


Finishing his work, Brody removed his safety glasses and turned to him.  “Well, they’re gonna figure out where we are sooner or later.  Even if they can’t get in, they can still vent the atmosphere.  And don’t worry,” he said, lifting a hand to quell the boys protests.  “The plants are producing oxygen.  We’ll have enough breathable air for a while.”  


Rush glanced up, his gaze flickering between Brody and the last door that would have to be sealed.  He looked down at his watch and groaned inwardly.  The time allotted for Belle, Scott and Greer to make their way to hydroponics had come and gone.  He lifted the radio from his belt, holding up a hand to stop Brody from finishing his task.  “Belle?  Belle come in … where are you?”

 

The sound of gunfire echoed sharply in the background as she answered.  “We’re pinned down in the infirmary!”

 

“You need to get back here … now!  We don’t have time to wait,” he snapped, panic rising in his chest.

 

Belle glanced down at her own watch and cursed.  “Nicholas … seal the doors.  You have to think –“

 

“I will _not_ seal the bloody doors until you’re on _this_ side of them.”   


“The longer you wait, the greater the chance of being discovered.”  She sighed, her heart breaking, her chest tight.  “Nicholas, you have to.  You have to think of those in your charge.  Tell Brody to seal the doors.”

 

Chloe shushed the baby, rocking her gently in her arms and hoping she wouldn’t pick up on the emotions twisting her gut.  “No, you _have_ to give them more time.”  


“There is no more time, Chloe,” Belle hissed into the radio.  “Nicholas, the next pulsar blast will be deadly to anyone outside that room … you have to think of the greater good.”

 

“Fuck the greater good, Belle!” he snarled, feeling the stinging onset of tears behind his eyes.  “I can’t lose you again.”

 

“This isn’t about me!”  She pressed a hand to mouth to hold in the sobs threatening to break free of her throat.  “Nicholas, please … I love you.  Remember that, ok?  Know that there hasn’t been a moment when I haven’t loved you.”

 

The line went dead.  “Belle?  Belle, answer me … Belle!”

 

Eli took the radio from him as he slumped against the bulkhead next to the door, switching it to the military channel.  “Scott!  Scott, come in.  Where are you?”

 

The lieutenant sounded out of breath when he responded.  “We are cut off.  We can’t shoot our way through.”

 

“Well, we haven't sealed the door yet. There's still time. Um, we'll dial up the shields until you get back.” Eli said.

 

“That'll just give 'em more time to find you. Our only chance is to stick with the plan. Seal the door.”

 

Rush rubbed a hand over his eyes to clear them of the moisture which had gathered there, cursing Belle for putting him in the position of choosing everyone else over her, but he knew he had no choice.  His heart felt as if it were crumbling to ash in his chest, his throat burned and his head throbbed.  It would be easier to surrender himself to the enemy than put her at risk, but once again, she’d given him no choice.

 

He raised his red-rimmed eyes to the engineer.  “Brody,” he rasped out.  “Do it.  Seal the door.”

 

Brody looked to Eli, who looked just as miserable as Rush, and nodded.

  
X*X*X*X*X

 

Dannic stalked around the control interface room like a caged animal as Ginn and Nash worked diligently to work the problem.  “Have you restored the shield yet?”

 

“Rush is still bleeding power from the system.  We can’t stop him,” Nash said, averting his gaze from his commander.  


Dannic shoved him aside to see the readings for himself.  “It’s worse than we thought,” Ginn rasped out, her voice hoarse from his mistreatment of her earlier. She knew the only reason she wasn’t dead was because the man found her somewhat useful. “The next radiation spike from the pulsar _will_ collapse the shields completely.”

 

In hydroponics, Eli held the remote between him and Rush as they watched the live footage from the control room.  “Now they know.  They’ve no choice but to surrender.”  


Eli glanced over at Nicholas.  The man’s voice was flat and emotionless, as if he’d severed his link with his emotions.  Belle made him human, made him feel, and without her … Eli shook his head, a shiver running along his spine … he didn’t know who Dr. Rush was.

 

The lock on one of the doors spun and the mechanism whined as it tried to open.  Brody clambered to his feet and turned his worried gaze on the others.  “They’ve found us.”

 

“Dannic,” the Lucian soldier reported over his radio.  “We’ve found a door we can’t open – hydroponics.  It appears to be sealed from the inside.”

 

The Lucian commander smiled triumphantly at the others.  “We’ve got them.”  Into the radio he ordered, “Get some explosives.  We’ll blow the door.”

 

Telford stumbled through the doorway of the control room, almost doubled over in pain as he clutched his injured abdomen with one hand and braced the other against the bulkhead.  It had taken nearly all his strength and a sheer force of will to make to from the storage room which had been outfitted to house the recovering Lucians.  “Y-You can’t do that,” he gasped, his voice thready and weak.  “Any blast big enough to get you through the door will kill the people inside.  We need Rush to restore the shields.”  
  
“There isn't enough time anyway,” Ginn added, her eyes wide and fearful.  “The next pulsar wave is in less than five minutes.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle sat next to Camille on the floor of the infirmary and leaned her head back against the gurney she’d turned on its side to offer them a bit of cover.  Scott had ordered her to stay with the woman, and she’d promised to follow his commands without question despite feeling useless.  The woman bowed her head and folded her hands, silently praying.

 

“Have a little faith in Nicholas, Camille.  He’s not going to let us die,” she murmured tiredly, emotionally drained.

 

Camille frowned at her.  “You just told him goodbye over the radio.  Perhaps you should follow your own advice.”

 

“There was someone I loved once … I didn’t get to say goodbye to him.  Despite my faith in Rush’s genius, I wasn’t going to make the same mistake again,” Belle said softly, her eyes closing as she choked back a wealth of tears.  She didn’t have time to fall into a pit of self-pity and recriminations.  “Besides, it will give him an incentive to do what needs to be done.  He won’t fail us.”

 

“You really think he’ll get them to surrender?”

 

Belle smiled and cocked her head in Camille’s direction.  “I trust him.”

 

X*X*X*X*X  


“Dannic, this is Rush,” he said into his radio.  “By now, you know the situation. You have no choice. Lay down your weapons and order your people to assemble on the Observation Deck. Once I receive visual confirmation of your compliance, I'll dial up the shields.”  
  
Dannic stabbed his thumb into the com button.  “I still say you're bluffing.”  
  
Rush paced in the limited space between two rows of Belle’s sapling peaches and TJ’s carefully tended medicinals.  “Our position is well protected. Even without the shields, we'll survive the next wave.  _You_  won't. Either way, we take the ship back.”  
  
Dannic looked across at Ginn and made his way to her console, his eyes cold.  She shrank back at his murderous expression.  “I don’t know,” she murmured nervously.  “It’s possible.”

 

“The man is a coward,” Telford scoffed.  “He wouldn't sacrifice himself. He's telling the truth.”  
  
Dannic activated his radio again.  “You still have people out here. You'd be killing them, too.”  
  
An image of Belle, her smile, the light of her eyes, the tender expression which transformed her entire face whenever she told him she loved him, flickered across his mind’s eye and the pain of possibly losing her nearly sent him to his knees.  “A necessary sacrifice.”

  
“He won't do it,” the Lucian insisted.  
  
“Dannic!” Telford interjected, gaping incredulously.  
  
“Enough,” the man sneered at David.  
  
“You don't have a choice!”  
  
“I said enough!” Dannic bellowed furiously, spinning around and aiming his pistol at Telford.  “We're not giving up this ship.”

 

Eli – still watching on the remote – shook his head nervously.  “He’s not bluffing, Rush!”

 

“Just wait,” Nicholas said.

 

“He doesn't even know we're watching. This isn't an act!” the boy insisted.

 

Steeling himself against the pain, David released his hold on the bulkhead, pressing a hand to his injury and stumbled forward towards Dannic, shaking his head.  “You can’t do this.  You’ll kill us all.”  


“We were prepared to die the moment we stepped through that gate.”  
  
“You're insane!”

 

Dannic backhanded him across the face.  Telford, weak from his wound and subsequent surgery, collapsed onto the cold metal floor. 

 

In hydroponics, Rush turned away from the remote as Eli gestured towards the screen, his gaze ping-ponging wildly between Brody and the lead scientist.  “Did you ... did you just  _see_  that?”  He stood up and followed after Nicholas.  “This guy is  _nuts_. You can't reason with someone like that!”

 

Nicholas refused to turn and meet his eyes.  Time was ticking away, each second carrying him further and further away from his Belle, his hope.  Brody stepped into his path, forcing him to stop.  “So what about the others?  What about Scott, Greer … and Belle?”  


Rush still wouldn’t meet anyone’s gaze, a single tear etching its way over his weathered cheek, hidden by the fringe of his dark hair.  Eli sank down on his seat again as Chloe cast a pleading look at Rush’s back.  Neither could find the strength to say a word.  Rush turned his head slightly, but still couldn’t look at any of the occupants in the room waiting with bated breath to hear his answer.

 

“I’m sorry.”  _I’m so sorry, Belle._

  
X*X*X*X*X

 

Telford gnashed his teeth together, trying to forestall his painful moan as he writhed helplessly on the floor.  Dannic glowered down at him a moment before he looked at his compatriots.  “Listen to me. You know why we came here. You  _know_  what this ship means. Are you really prepared to let it go just when it's in our grasp?”  
  
“You mean  _your_  grasp,” David sneered scornfully. To the others assembled, he said, “Don't listen to him. He's crazy. He will kill all of us.”  
  
Dannic’s eyes gleamed manically as he stared down at the fallen colonel.  “No. Just anyone who tries to get in my way.”  He slowly aimed his pistol at Telford, his finger curling about the trigger and beginning to squeeze.

 

David gasped as the sound of a shot filled the room, blood splattering over his face and neck … but it wasn’t him who’d taken the bullet.  The commander looked down at himself and a second bullet joined the first, fired into his back.  Two more were fired off in rapid succession and his knees buckled under the impact, sending him crashing to the floor next to the colonel.

 

David’s stunned gaze zeroed in on Ginn, standing behind the fallen man, the smoking pistol in her hand.  She nervously looked around at everyone.  “Telford was right. He  _was_  crazy.”  She dropped the gun to the floor to show she wasn’t a threat to anyone else and walked over to the console to retrieve her radio.

 

“Rush?  Dannic is dead,” she said.  “We’ll comply with your demands.”  


X*X*X*X*X

 

Scott and Greer stood in front of the open stargate as their crew came stumbling through the puddle.  Riley shook Scott’s hand as he limped past on his way to the infirmary where the colonel had ordered him to go.  Several others stopped and greeted the two marines, but their attention shifted as Varro and his Alliance colleagues ambled down the ramp.

 

Greer jerked his thumb to one side.  “That way,” he pointed, his expression daring them to pull a stunt.  He wouldn’t hesitate to shoot any of them.

  
Dunning and Rennie shepherded the Lucians to one side and led them away as Vanessa came through the gate, grinning.  Young was the last one through, the event horizon shutting down behind him.  


“Welcome back, sir,” Scott said, smiling brightly.  


“Well done, sergeant, lieutenant,” Everett said, shaking their hands.    


“It wasn't really us, sir. Mostly it was Rush,” Greer admitted grudgingly as he jerked his head to the console where Nicholas and Belle were having a heated argument in hushed tones.

 

The colonel’s gaze settled on the pair just in time to see Belle rip her hand out of Rush’s grasp and run from the gate room.  Nicholas called after her, but she didn’t stop, her feet carrying her away from him.  “I see some things never change.”  His stomach rolled and bile rose in his throat as he thought of what _had_ changed.  
  
“Colonel,” Scott said, bouncing happily on the balls of his feet.  “TJ said she wanted to see you the second you got back –“

 

Everett’s head snapped up in stunned disbelief.  “TJ … she’s alive?  The … Varro said she was dead!”

 

Greer shook his head.  “No, sir.  We lost Carla, but TJ’s fine.  You really thought Miss Belle would allow anything to happen to her?”

 

But Young didn’t hear him as he broke out into a run.  He didn’t pay heed to any of his men or the civilians who called out to him.  There was only one thing on his mind.  He had to see her with his own eyes, to know that she was well and safe.  He needed to see that he hadn’t failed her after all.  


X*X*X*X*X

  
Destiny, her shields restored and her engines in working order, finally jumped into FTL, leaving the pulsar behind as Everett made his way quickly to the quarters he shared with TJ.  He raked a hand through his hair, busying his hands to stop them from striking the door with his fists.  He didn’t even bother to close them as he rushed to their bedroom.

 

He sucked in a deep breath as he took her in, curled under the duvet with her golden hair spread out behind her on the pillow.  She turned when she noticed him in the doorway, a blinding smile curling her lips.  “Everett …” she breathed, holding out a hand to him.

 

Young edged around the bed, his hand outstretched to clasp her own when a tiny cry met his ears.  His whole world stopped and crashed down around his ears, driving him to his knees beside the bed.  His eyes filled with tears and spilled over his lashes as he reached out to touch the downy head of his child.

 

TJ felt her own eyes sting as she watch the awe and joy blossom on his face.  “Say hello to your daughter,” she whispered, her voice seeming to bring him back to himself.

 

Baby blue eyes, a bit darker than her mother’s, stared up at him curiously as she burbled her little baby noises and he couldn’t help himself.  He lifted her into his arms and cradled her close to his chest, his lips brushing her brow.  “How … I mean, when?”

 

TJ propped herself up on her elbow, gently biting her lip as she met his gaze.  “Just before you were sent off world.  Are you angry I didn’t tell you?”

 

He leaned down and cupped her cheek in his free hand, shaking his head slightly as he kissed the corner of her mouth again and again.  “I thought you were dead, Tamara,” he croaked around the lump of emotion lodged in his throat.  “How could you ever think I’d be angry with you?”

 

“Belle and I didn’t think you could afford to be distracted,” she said, watching as he fussed over the baby and counted her little fingers.  “I don’t know how I would have made it through this without her.”

 

“I’ll make sure to give her my undying thanks when I see her later,” he promised.  He knew Dr. French didn’t hold him in the highest regard, but she did believe in his relationship with her best friend.  Hopefully she wouldn’t try to shoot him for fouling things up when he went to thank her.

 

TJ plucked at his filthy uniform jacket as she took the baby from him.  “I’m sure you will, but first you need to shower and come to bed.”

 

The idea of eight hours, curled around the woman he loved, with his little daughter slumbering nearby in her crib, sounded like a little slice of heaven to him.  He kissed TJ again and nuzzled the baby’s cheek before pulling back to ask, “What did you name her?”

 

She smiled up at him.  “I was thinking of naming her Carmen Claire … after our mothers.”

 

He nodded, wiping away the last of his tears as he held her close.  “I think that’s perfect.”  


X*X*X*X*X

  
Nicholas snarled down at the console as Destiny dropped out of FTL.  For once, he didn’t want to be in the control interface room, surrounded by his work.  He needed to find Belle.  They were long overdue for a talk – one he wasn’t looking forward to.  He’d yelled at her in a burst of temper in the gate room, relieved that she was safe and furious with her for leaving his side at the same time.  She’d run off in a fit of pique, and he knew her well enough to see that if she was running, it wasn’t likely he’d find her until she wanted to be found.

 

“That was a quick jump,” Volker muttered distractedly from the third console.  Nicholas shook his head and continued his diagnostics to make sure everything was as it should be with the FTL drive.  


“This is where we were supposed to come out before the Lucian Alliance dialed in,” Brody explained.  
  
“Is there any deadly radiation?” Volker said, part-sarcastically, part seriously.  “Brody?”

 

The engineer’s gaze remained fixed on his own console as he went over the data.  “Nah, we’re good.”  
  
Nicholas shook his head at the pessimistic astrophysicist and switched off his console.  “Mr. Brody,” he acknowledged as he made his way to the door.  “I’ll have my radio on should you need my assistance.”  He simply nodded at Dale on his way out.  For the first time in days, he felt as if he could take a deep breath, but he knew the pain in his chest wouldn’t ease up until he was able to make things better with his Belle.  He just needed to find her.

  
X*X*X*X*X

  
Nicholas trekked down the darkened corridors on C-deck, radio clipped to his belt and torch in hand to light his way.  He knew better than to try to contact her.  She wouldn’t answer, not for him anyway … not as mad as she was.  He’d checked their room, _her_ room – not that she’d ever spent even one night in the quarters she’d claimed for herself – the showers, the armory, mess, observation deck, hydroponics … everywhere she liked to spend her time.  He’d been searching for well over a bloody hour and then had run into Young as he headed for the elevator to venture down into the bowels of the ship and one last place he knew she liked to go.

 

It was bad form on his part to practically ignore the man.  He’d been through as much as he himself had, but he didn’t have time for a battle of wits with the colonel.  Thankfully, the man had taken the hint and ambled away to return to his family with just a few words of gratitude.  He was sure later when he’d made peace with Belle, he’d feel a sense of smug satisfaction over Young’s humbly murmured _thank you_.

 

The lights were bright – or as bright as they could ever get on the Ancient ship – spilling out into the corridor from the open door to the laundry room.  For some reason, it was one of Belle’s favorite places.  She liked the bright lights, the warmth that seemed to permeate the icy ship from the large dryers, but most of all, she liked the large crates they used to store the extra blankets.  She would crawl into one when she needed to be alone and wrap herself in a comforting cocoon of soft sateen and let it chase away her melancholy.  He had a feeling she had more than just a bit of melancholy to deal with at the present.

 

Her boots and tactical vest were strewn over the floor just inside the door as he entered, her sidearms still in their holsters next to them.  She hadn’t even bothered to check them back into the armory before she’d come here, which wasn’t like her at all.  “Belle?” he called, his voice carrying to all corners of the cavernous room.

 

Nicholas knew where she was.  There was only one crate devoid of its lid, the light overhead spilling into it.  “Belle?” he called again as he approached.  He could hear her sniffles and the rustle of the sateen blankets as she shifted about, no doubt trying to burrow further into the blankets to escape his notice.  She’d done the same thing after the episode with the ticks and their visit to Storybrooke.  He’d acceded to her wishes and let her be for two days then.  He wouldn’t let her wallow in her upset this time, however.

 

He hoisted himself up to sit on the edge of the crate, staring down at her chestnut curls spread out around her in a tangled mass, tears leaking from the corners of her closed lids as her petite frame shook with sobs.  “Oh, _mo stór_ …”

 

“Go a-away,” she cried, turning over on her side and giving him her back.  “I don’t want to talk to you right now.”

 

Rush sighed mournfully as he toed off his boots and peeled off his socks, letting them drop to the floor before he stripped off his shirts and lowered  himself into the crate. He was barely able to duck out of the way of her elbow as he lifted a corner of the blankets and spooned himself against her back. 

 

He wrapped one arm over her waist and used the other to restrain her arms as he buried his face in her hair, breathing in her warm scent.  “Shh, my Belle, it’s over … it’s over now,” he crooned.  He didn’t know where he found the fortitude to be so calm and patient with her when he was so utterly exhausted, but he was grateful nonetheless.  “You’re safe now, love.”

 

“We’ll never be safe, N-Nicholas,” she wailed, her sobs coming from deep down within her soul.  “There will always be something or someone to threaten our happiness, to take you from me.  I don’t know if I’m strong enough to go through this again and again.”

 

“Hush, my darling … I’m here now,” he crooned.  Her body stiffened, the breath catching in her throat and he realized it had been the wrong thing to say.  She turned in his arms to face him, her eyes shooting icy blue daggers at him.

 

“For how long, Nicholas?  Until the next time you decide you just _have_ to protect me?” she sneered acidly.  “You. _Left_. Me!”

 

“I was trying to save you!” he snarled as she braced her hands against his chest and gave a violent shove, scrambling away from him.

 

She didn’t get very far as she crawled to the side of the crate, his fingers wrapping about her bare ankle and pulling her back over to him.  “Let go!”

 

He ignored her and pinned her against the mound of duvets, her wrists trapped beneath his as he blanketed her body with his own.  “No!  I won’t let you shut me out.”

 

“You can, but I can’t … is that it?  You left and didn’t give any regard to how I might feel.  We’re supposed to be in this together, Rush.”  She struggled against his hold, wishing for nothing more than to escape not so much him, but the debilitating weakness she felt when she thought of losing him.  “I can’t do this again!”

 

Rush felt her body relax into his, the tension, the fight, seeming to drain out of her.  “I’m sorry,” he whispered, pressing a kiss to her full lower lip as it quivered.  “Tell me what you need, Belle,” he said, melting into her, taking comfort from her body pressed so tightly to his.

 

She turned her head, ignoring the heat flooding through her veins like liquid fire.  It didn’t deter him, his lips trailing a path along her jaw to her ear.  “I n-need you to be honest with m-me,” she hissed, holding onto her anger.  “I f-felt betrayed, Nicholas.  I felt as though you didn’t trust me.  I can’t go through that again.  I can’t _lose_ you too.”

 

He rolled over onto his back, pulling her against his chest before he stretched out his arms at his sides, freeing her to go … or stay.  He prayed she wouldn’t run again.  “I’m here, Belle … I’m yours. You and Destiny are my life, Belle.  It is my duty to protect you.”

 

“You’re trying to justify your actions, Rush!  You broke a promise to me … your promise to be honest.  The ends do not always justify the means,” she protested, her tears spilling over onto his bare chest.

 

“I couldn’t bloody well ignore it, now could I?  Look at how many lives were lost because of Telford’s subterfuge.  He’s a traitor!”

 

“And you let your hatred of him fuel your desire to bring him down!  Lives were lost because of what you did as well.  The Alliance was able to come here because of you!” She knew she’d gone too far when she saw the lines around his mouth and eyes tighten with anger.

 

“They would have come anyway,” he hissed as she levered herself off of him and backed away.  He rose stiffly to his knees to face her.  “And let’s not forget that Young could have severed the connection with the stones at any time, but he was too worried about his precious _friend_ to allow the Alliance to have him.  He didn’t give a damn about what was happening to me.  He didn’t give a fuck that I was being tortured!”

 

The color drained from her face as she imagined what he must have gone through.  “Nicholas …”

 

He dropped back onto his haunches, his chin bowing against his chest.  “I’d do it all again to save you, Belle,” he said in an agonized whisper.

 

“That’s what scares me.  What will you do next time I’m threatened?”

 

His hair obscured his face where she couldn’t see the abject misery on his features, his voice cold, lifeless.  “You knew I wasn’t a good man when you signed on for this relationship.”

 

She lunged at him, pushing him back against the soft sateen spread out beneath them.  “No, but you were right about one thing,” she said, planting a hand in the center of his chest as she straddled him.

 

The breath caught in his throat as her eyes darkened with desire.  “Yeah, what’s that?” he whispered breathlessly.

 

“You’re mine.  Come what may, you’re _mine_ , Nicholas Rush.”  Her lips crashed down onto his, her tongue invading his mouth to seek out all the places that made him acquiesce to her every wish, leaving him weak and breathless.  “Now you need to truly learn what that means.”

 

 

 

 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Oooooh, Belle’s fixing to have her wicked way with him. Doubtful he’ll want to pull another stunt for a while … or not. I wonder if he’s going to confide in her about the bridge. If he doesn’t, I can’t see her forgiving him anytime soon. We’ll just have to wait and see. I really hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Please let me know if you did or didn’t :D Thanks so so much for reading!!!


	22. Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This chapter contains smut. After what all they’ve been through, I’d say they deserved a moment of bliss, yeah? This chapter is for my darling Shipperqueen who requested fluff and smut and happiness :D Hopefully this will not disappoint. I’m so sorry it has taken me so long to update. Enjoy!!
> 
> Great boatload of love for my beta cynicsquest. Thank you so much, darling <3\. I absolutely adored your commentary :D

 

Rush couldn’t take his eyes off of her, twin pools of deepest umber, reflecting all the love he had in his heart for one tiny woman and an ancient ship.  Nothing mattered so much in the wide world.  Belle and Destiny … Destiny and Belle.  He’d been gifted with each, deserving neither.  Despite her protests, he would lay down his life to protect them.  Belle was his by her own choice.  She fed his soul on a level so deep, twisted herself about his heart so tightly … she was everything to him.

 

He hissed in pain as her small hands gently roamed his bare chest, her fingers tracing each and every bruise on his torso.  Quickly, his hands darted out to wrap about hers as she winced and moved to pull away.  “Don’t,” he croaked, his voice rough with emotion, filled with a passion only she could invoke within his shattered being.  She held him together with her mere presence, gripped tightly and reformed him piece by piece.  “Don’t be afraid to touch me, _mo chroí_.  I _need_ you to touch me.  Make me yours, Belle.  Show me.”

 

She relaxed in his grip and he released his firm hold on her hands, returning them to his chest and pressing lightly until he was certain she wouldn’t pull away from him again.  He watched her, taking note of the desire so evident in her cerulean gaze.  Nicholas arched into her questing hands with a sigh.

 

A single tear dripped from her lashes and she hurriedly brushed it away.  “I kissed Telford,” she said, her voice barely more than a whisper as she looked down, avoiding his gaze.  “When you left … I didn’t know.  You had been avoiding me all day and when I found you …”

 

Nicholas fought back the snarling jealous beast which clawed at his gut.  “It wasn’t your fault, Belle.”

 

“I know,” she agreed.  “I just wanted you to know.  I don’t like to keep things from you.”  Belle leaned over him, her unbound hair curtaining his face as her petal soft lips brushed against the small cut on the bridge of his nose, over the larger one high on his right cheek bone and then lower across his bottom lip.  She kissed away the pain and had him longing to caress her in return.  He inhaled deeply, breathing her in, her scent warm and musky and _home_.  Her head dipped lower along his unshaven jaw, pressing a lingering kiss beneath it to his rapidly beating pulse.  “I had to watch them lock you up.”

 

“I’m sorry, love.  I didn’t want to leave you, but –“

 

Her pearl white teeth nipped sharply at his collarbone and he bucked against her, all the blood rushing from his head and into his groin.  Oh how he wanted to take hold of her hips and grind against the heat of her core which his jeans and her lacy knickers couldn’t hide from him.  “I had to watch as Young abused your body, Nicholas.  I had to pull Ronald off of you before he caused lasting damage,” she rasped, tears heavy in her tone.  “I had to watch as the life support was severed in the chamber where you were being held.  I had to stand by and watch them _kill_ you.”

 

Rush froze, the blood turning to ice in his veins as she rose above him and stared down at his bruised and battered body.  He’d had no idea how his actions would affect her.  He sat up, nearly unseating her in his haste to comfort her.  His warm palms cradled her face, his fingers delving into her hair.  “Oh, my Belle…” he murmured, his thumbs brushing at her tears.

 

The fingers of her left hand curled over the side of his neck, her thumb resting gently over his adam’s apple which bobbed convulsively.  “D-Did you feel it, Nicholas?  W-When you … you …” She couldn’t say it.

 

“When I died?” he finished for her.  “Yes.” He flexed his hand, remembering the wound Kiva had inflicted on Telford’s hand. “Kiva thought I was faking to get out of working on the connection. She doesn’t suffer fools lightly … or rather she didn’t.”

 

“I didn’t think we’d be able to save you,” she said, her lower lip trembling.  “Everett and I worked on you, but … it was taking so long and … I thought you were gone.  I-I thought I’d lost you,” she cried. 

 

Nicholas cradled her to his chest and she buried her face against his neck, great heaving gasping sobs wracking her body as she poured out her anguish.  “Shh,” he crooned, stroking a hand over her tousled curls as he held tightly to her quaking frame.  “I’m here, _mo stór_ , I’m here.  I’ll not leave you again … I promise.”

 

A bitter laugh bubbled wetly in her throat.  “At least until the next time you feel the need to protect me, right?  You’ve made this promise more than once and each time you’ve gone back on your word.”

 

“Aye, love, but this time … this time I came just a little too close to the end of myself,” he admitted wryly.  A shudder passed through his wiry frame, stealing his breath, as he remembered his torture, the utter desolation, the loss of hope …

 

Belle tilted her head to the side, studying him carefully.  What did he hope to hide from her when there wasn’t a person alive who knew him better?  “What did they do to you?” she whispered, her sweet breath ghosting over his lips as she kissed the corner of his mouth.  She pressed another to his brow and his hands tightened perceptively at her waist.  If there was one thing she excelled at, it was calming the beast.  Her feather light touches, her low tones, the soft dance of her lips over fevered flesh.  It had worked well on Gold, and Nicholas was just as powerless to resist her charms.  “What did they do to you?”  Her soft hands petted the hair away from his brow and over his crown to the nape of his neck, kneading gently before beginning all over again.  “Tell me, my love.”

 

Rush trailed his hands beneath her loose military issue t-shirt, pressing gently against the knobs of her spine with gentle pressure.  “You’re a manipulative little minx,” he crooned against the shell of her ear.

 

Belle chuckled warmly, not once ceasing in her ministrations.  Her drying tears darkened lashes over inquisitive eyes, her panic calmed and now she wanted answers so they could move forward once more.  “Yes, but you love me anyway,” she teased.  She shifted her weight, grinding her hips down against his flagging erection, reveling in the feeling of him surging against her once more.  “Now tell me what I want to know.”

 

He groaned, his shoulders drooping as he shot her a pained look.  “Why must we talk of such unpleasantness when we could be having hot reunion sex?” he asked petulantly.

 

She wrapped her arms around his neck and nuzzled beneath his ear, breathing him in.  “Because it’s therapeutic, Nicholas.  It’s the price of having a good relationship.  If you don’t talk about it, your feelings about what happened are just going to fester until they boil over and make everyone you come in contact with utterly miserable.”

 

His eyes narrowed as he clucked his tongue in disgust.  “Thank you, Dr. Freud.”

 

Belle sat back against his thighs to give him a bit of space, though her hands never ceased their slow comforting strokes over his bare skin.  “I love you, Nicholas, with my whole heart.  I’m not going to judge you, scorn you or belittle you.  I just want you to unburden yourself so we can heal from this together.”

 

Rush pulled her against his chest and scooted back to lean against the side of the crate.  If he were going to have to relive his experiences with the Lucian Alliance, he wanted no distance between them.  He needed the comfort of her body, the pressure of her touch and the assurance that she was safe and in his arms where she belonged.

 

He was silent for a long moment before he sighed in resignation.  “How much did Young tell you?”

 

“Everett told me about your foolhardy plan and I had the letter you left for me, but I know next to nothing after you arrived at Homeworld Command.”

 

He ducked his head and pressed a kiss to her temple, absently letting his hands roam over her back.  “It didn’t take me long to elude the soldier assigned to me.  I followed the clues which had been revealed to me in the dream and wound up being brought to an abandoned cannery along the Potomac, just outside the city.”

 

“They could have killed you outright, Nicholas,” she grumbled.

 

“Shh, _mo chroí_ … I’m fine,” he soothed.  He squeezed her tightly.  “So … It wasn’t long before Kiva and several of her goons arrived.  When I couldn’t provide the password, they took me hostage about their Goa’uld craft.  I woke up in the hold, chained to the wall to await her questioning.”

 

Belle bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut, her nails digging into his battered flesh.  “W-What did she want?” she whispered, cursing silently as her voice quavered.

 

He laughed bitterly.  “What one would think, sweetheart.  She wanted to know who I was for starters.  She was certain I wasn’t Colonel Telford, but she was convinced I was either Young or Lt Scott.  She –“  He paused, his eyes slamming closed as fear and pain threatened to paralyze him.  Memories of his torture, the excruciating and debilitating pain, the thought of what would happen to Destiny, to his precious Belle if he didn’t return to them was crippling.  “Kiva thrives on the pain of others,” he managed to choke out.

 

Belle raised her head from his shoulder, stricken by the hopelessness written so plainly on his features.  “Nicholas –“

 

Rush opened his eyes, focusing on her beautiful face, the love and sorrow radiating from her, in an effort to push the experience from his mind.  “I love you, Belle.  It was thoughts of you that kept me strong,” he breathed, cradling her face in his warm palms.  “It was only the fact that I could die from what she was doing to me that pushed me into telling her who I really was.  I couldn’t leave you!  I had to find my way back to you at any cost!”

 

Fresh tears spilled over her lashes to land on his bare chest.   She shook her head as he buried his against the warm comfort of her neck, his own tears joining hers.  “Stop, love.  You don’t have to tell me anymore.”

 

“You k-know the rest.  They’d found an Icarus type planet and made me open the gate.  It’s all my fault.”

 

“No, it’s not.  Young could have severed the connection at any time, but the bastard put a guard outside the communications lab and wouldn’t hear of it.  He was afraid of leaving David at their mercy.  His precious friend,” she spat angrily.  “He was even more adamant after the brainwashing had been broken.”

 

He held as still as possible as he leaned his head back wearily on the side of the crate and allowed her to dry his tears with her gentle fingertips.  When she was done, he caught her hand and pressed a hot kiss to her palm, watching her shiver as he rubbed a week’s growth of whiskers over her wrist.  “At least I had you to watch over me, _mo ghra_.  I know I’m always safe with you.”

 

“Always, Nicholas … always,” she vowed.  “I’ll always fight for you.”

 

Rush repeated the touch with her other hand and pressed them both to his chest, her right hand resting over his heart.  “Touch me, Belle … please … I need you,” he pleaded, unable to hide his soul deep longing from her.  “Please don’t be angry with me.  I don’t think I could bear it.  Please show me, _mo stór_.  Show me that I’m yours.”  His eyes bored into hers, reflecting all the love he held for her.  “Love me?”

 

The words had barely left his mouth before she surged against him, her lips crashing down onto his with little finesse in her desire to chase away his demons.  He was vulnerable and broken, but with Belle … with her he was whole.  He, better than anyone, understood her anguish over being separated.  As much as he loved the ancient ship which had become their home, he loved her more.  It was hard to imagine a time when he hadn’t loved her.  She was his _life_ … now and forever.  He couldn’t do this without her.  She’d saved him after Gloria had died, during a time when he was bitter at the whole world.  He’d been shattered and broken then too and she’d swooped in like an avenging angel and put him back together.  He’d die for her, but knowing her indomitable will, she’d just follow him and drag him back.

 

Rush pushed his musings to the back of his mind as her hot little tongue delved past his lips and over his teeth to meet his own.  His body came to life beneath her questing hands and he wanted it all.  He wanted to feel every touch, every brush of her lips and every wet swipe of her tongue.  He wanted to _feel._ He wanted to be consumed by her.  She was the embodiment of love, light and goodness and he _needed_ her to fill him with it, to chase the shadows out of his soul and have her mark on him in the only way she could.

 

A growl rumbled low in his chest as he tightened his arms about her and pushed away from the side of the crate.  She gazed up at him trustingly as he laid her back against the enveloping softness of the coverlets which served as their makeshift bed.  He knew she was worried, could see it plainly in the deep cerulean pools of her eyes.  His only answer was another kiss, the gentle slide of his lips against hers meant to reassure.

 

 Her nails scored the heated flesh of his shoulders and back as she arched into him, her hands insistent as she pulled him down to settle between her parted thighs.  He delved beneath the hem of her shirt, his hands ghosting over the milky white skin of her sides until his thumbs brushed lightly at the sensitive undersides of her breasts.  She pushed against his chest with a moan of frustration in her haste to rid herself of the garment, just as needy as he was to have her bare skin pressed against his.

 

Rush captured her arms, still trapped within the shirt, the material caught about her head and covering her eyes.  Her kiss swollen lips formed a tiny ‘o’ of surprise and she stilled, eager to see what he’d do.  She wriggled impatiently, her breathing labored as she felt his beard brush over her breasts.  “Nicholas …” she gasped, trying to arch up into his touch, wanting more of the delicious sensation.  A low moan escaped her as his rough tongue swiped a long patch over the valley between her breasts.

 

He rumbled in appreciation.  “No bra today, _mo chroí_?” he teased, claiming one of her turgid nipples between his teeth.

 

“It’s i-in the wash and I still haven’t repaired the spare you shredded l-last week,” she tried to explain.  Her thoughts were jumbled and scattered by the insatiable desire he stoked in her.

 

His cheeks hollowed as he sucked, pressing her nipple to the roof of his mouth with his tongue.  She keened, her cries echoing in the cavernous room, but still he refused to let her go.  He held her pinned beneath him with the aid of her shirt as his mouth paid homage to her perfect breasts.  Her slender thigh wrapped over his hip, using it to press herself closer to his straining erection.  He didn’t deny her the friction, grinding into her core.  It was his turn to moan as he felt her heat through their layers of clothing.

 

“Gods!! Nicholas … please!   I need to touch you,” she cried, fighting against his hold and the shirt still wrapped about her head.  It was sensory overload and she was teetering on a precipice of overwhelming sensation brought on from the heat and unadulterated exquisiteness of his mouth.  “Nick!”

 

He capitulated to her pleas, finally releasing her arms so she could free herself.  A soft grunt vibrated around her nipple as her hands grasped sharply at his shaggy hair, her nails digging into his scalp, the pain only enhancing his own pleasure.  Never one to let an opportunity pass him by, he let his hand drift lower to fist in the scrap of lace covering her sex, the seams popping and giving way to his impatience.

 

“Rush!  That’s the third pair this month!” she complained, doing her best to sound scolding … and failed.  She was too overwhelmed as his talented fingers slid over her slick folds and then slipped inside to press deep.  She bit sharply on her lip and held tightly to him as another wave of desire ripped through her.

 

He smiled against her skin as he moved upward over her collarbone to lick the moisture pooling in the hollow of her throat.  “I’ll buy you a new pair.”

 

“Let’s h-hope there’s a Victoria’s Secret on the next p-planet,” she gasped out, hoping he’d appreciate the quip. All other coherent thought fled as he crooked his clever fingers and rubbed against her g-spot.  “Nicholas!”

 

He moaned softly, grinding his aching cock against her as she clenched around his fingers.  His teeth scored the juncture of her neck where it met her shoulder, causing shivers to erupt over her flesh in waves.  He worried the spot with his teeth, sucking gently to mark her before laving the little bruise with his tongue.  Using the heel of his hand to press sharply against her clit, she shattered beneath him, bringing a rather satisfied grin to his lips.

 

Rush withdrew only when her breathing slowed from its panting gasps and she nuzzled against his throat.  He could practically feel her smile against his collarbone as he lifted his hand to his lips and sucked his fingers clean.  Her essence bursting over his tongue did little to ease the ache in his groin and he was relieved to find her little hands reaching for the button of his jeans.  He was thankful for his forethought in ridding himself of most of his clothes before joining her in the crate.

 

Belle rose on quaking knees as she pushed him onto his back and pressed her lips to his.  She moaned low in her throat, tasting herself on his lips, spicy and warm, only enhancing his own flavor.  He allowed her to lead, a pure spike of hot desire causing the muscles in his stomach to clench in anticipation.  All the while her hands roamed over his chest, her sharp nails raking over his flat male nipples.  She dragged her lips away from his, trailing a scorching path of fire down his neck and over his collarbone before she reached her ultimate destination and drew one of his nipples into her mouth.  He arched beneath her, his long fingers coiling into her hair and cupping the back of her head.

 

Rush howled as she bit down gently and tugged with her sharp teeth.  “Belle …” he managed, his breathing harsh and loud in the silence.  Her nails raked over the other and he nearly unseated her.

 

Her head snapped up to look at him in horror as his radio – still attached to his hip – crackled to life.  “Rush?  We’ve just dropped out of FTL and –“

 

His shaking hand yanked it off his waistband and pressed the com button.  “You can bloody well fuck off, Volker.  There are other people on this fucking ship who can --“

 

Belle snatched it out of his hand with a warning glance.  “Dale, is it an emergency?” she asked, not caring in the least if the astrophysicist could hear the breathlessness of her tone.

 

“Um … no.”

 

“Call Scott and have him assemble a team.  Tell him not to disturb Everett and TJ if at all possible and get it handled,” she instructed calmly as she reached down to cup Nicholas’s erection through the stiff denim of his jeans.  He bit down on the heel of his hand so he wouldn’t be heard over the radio and failed, the deep growl rumbling up from his throat.  “Rush and I will not be available until our shift in the morning.  Are we clear?”

 

“Sorry, sorry!” Volker stammered.  She could practically see him blushing.  “I just thought Rush would want to know and … God I’m so sorry!”

 

Belle switched off the radio and tossed it into a corner of the crate.  “The one time you don’t turn off your walkie …”  She returned to her task as if nothing had happened, the interruption having done little to dampen their desire for one another.

 

He touched her on every available patch of skin he could reach as her lips traced over each and every bruise.  They stood out in stark relief against his pale flesh and he closed his eyes in bliss as her tongue ghosted wetly over the scar in the center of his chest.  It was still bright pink and tender to the touch, but healed nonetheless.  The rough rasp of her tongue sent little jolts of electricity sparking through him to settle in his groin.  He raised his hips, seeking relief from the throbbing heat in his cock and she met it with her palm instead of her heated core.  He whimpered pitifully and she smiled. He supposed it was only fair after driving her insane with his earlier ministrations.

 

“Belle, please, my love … please!” he moaned, surrendering himself to her.  She unzipped his jeans and reached inside, arching a brow at him at the absence of his boxers.  He shrugged.  “I had to dress in the dark and you’ve been a little remiss lately with the laundry.”

 

She snorted and dipped her head again to worry her lips along his navel.  She didn’t have the heart to tell him just then that his name had moved to the top of the laundry roster.  Why upset him now? she thought with a devilish grin.  She made quick work of his jeans and took him in hand, her eyes briefly meeting his before her lips wrapped around the head of his cock.

 

“Fuck!” he cried, his fingers delving into her silky hair as he tried to pull her away.  He would’ve sworn every drop of blood he possessed had gathered in his swollen shaft.  He didn’t want to finish in her mouth.  He wanted to be buried to her womb and gazing deeply into her eyes when he spilled himself.  He _needed_ that connection with her … the very one that made him feel loved and cherished and feeling as if he were worthy of her.  He was getting desperate as her tongue slid wetly along his length and he knew he’d never last if she didn’t stop.  “Stop, _bean, roimh i go maith fuilteach_ embarrass _féin_!” he choked out in a mixture of broken English and Gaelic.

 

Fortunately it was enough for Belle to understand.  She pressed a soft kiss to his tip and crawled up the length of his body, a surprised squeak falling from her lips as he rolled them and settled between her thighs.  She felt a moment of guilt when he didn’t move, his breath coming in uneven pants against her skin where he’d buried his face in her neck in an effort to gain control over his desire.

 

Belle’s nails raked over the fevered skin of his back and his hips shot forward with a will of their own.  She reached between them and stroked him, gently guiding him to her entrance.  A soft cry rushed out of him as he thrust forward, her heat enveloping him as he buried himself to the hilt.  He couldn’t stop himself from pounding into her, not even giving her time to adjust.  She was so wet from her desire and her previous climax, it mattered little.  Her hips rose with each thrust to meet him, to welcome him.  It had been too long and control was not a word either of them could claim to remember. 

 

Braced on his forearms, he cradled her face in his hands and captured her lips in a messy kiss.  Their lovemaking wasn’t about finesse now, but need.  It wasn’t simple wanting, but the deep love they shared.  “ _MINE!”_

“Yours … always, my Nicholas … yours.”

 

He could feel the electricity, that spiraling prickle of heat, crackling in the base of his spine.  It wrapped around him, his balls drawing up tightly against the base of his cock as he raced towards his peak.  “I belong to you, Belle,” he hissed adamantly, his gaze locked with hers.  “Claim me!  Love me!”

 

She gasped, the magnitude of his fervent and impassioned plea bringing tears to sting her eyes.  Her arms held him tighter, her legs wrapping about his waist as she moved with him, faster, harder, more desperate than before.  “Mine! Mine! Mine!  My Nicholas, my love, my heart.  Forever mine!  I love you!”

 

Her climax hit her with the force of a canon blast, taking her by surprise.  She came harder than ever before.  They’d been through too much and the reaffirmation of their love only added to their pleasure.  It sank into her soul and a sob of happiness tore from her throat.  It took her a moment to realize his hips had stilled, his own orgasm peppering his skin with goosebumps and leaving him shaking.  Tears dripped onto her face and she stared up at him in awe.

 

Rush, depleted of strength, collapsed onto her, his arms tightening about her slender frame as if he were afraid she’d be ripped away from him.  He pressed a weak kiss to her shoulder as she smiled down at him and brushed ineffectively at his tears.  “I love you.”

 

“True love, Nicholas,” she murmured wondrously.  “The most powerful magic of all.”

 

He nodded as his eyes drooped shut.  He wouldn’t argue with her over magic.  He was so drained he didn’t have the strength.  It barely registered on him when she pulled one of the blankets over them and rolled them onto their sides to nestle against his chest.  He was happy, sated and the woman he adored was safely tucked away in his embrace.  Everything else could wait until they’d slept.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Everett walked the corridor outside the spacious quarters he shared with TJ, baby Claire in the crook of one arm and his radio fisted in his free hand.  Tamara had fed their daughter and smiled unrepentantly as she handed her off to the proud papa to rock back to sleep.  It was one of the few times the colonel hadn’t minded losing a bit of slumber.  He yawned as his little one cooed softly, sucking on her fist.

 

“Colonel Young, this is Scott,” the radio crackled, the noise adjusted to its lowest setting.

 

“Go ahead, lieutenant.”

 

“Erm … did you by any chance authorize Dr. Rush or Belle to go down to the planet?”

 

Everett’s bare feet came to a halt in the middle of the dimly lit corridor as he arched a quizzical brow at the radio.  “No, I didn’t.  _You_ are supposed to be coordinating the away team, Scott.  Shouldn’t you know where the members of your team are?” he admonished.  “The last I saw of Rush, he was looking for Belle after they’d had a fight in the gate room.  Don’t tell me she’s killed him.”

 

“They’re missing, sir,” the lieutenant said.

 

His next yawn carried over the radio.  “Send out a search party.  Anyone not a part of the away team or otherwise engaged in their duties can do a sweep.  I’m going back to bed.”

 

“But sir –“

 

“Scott, they’re somewhere on the ship, I assure you.  If they’d gone planet side, someone on the away team would have seen them.  They’re on the ship.”  He left the radio on so he could listen in on the chatter as he returned to his quarters.  Claire snuffled softly in her sleep as he laid her gently in her crib and pressed a kiss to her brow.  He really was trying to give Scott more responsibility since he’d stepped up so well during the incursion.  He needed a chance to advance, to go beyond his rank and reach for more.  And he certainly needed to stop depending on him for such trivial matters.

 

Everett knew Rush wasn’t going to abandon Destiny and neither would Belle.  Either they were hidden away in an effort to have some much needed privacy, or she’d finally lost her temper and shot him out of an air lock.  Was it so wrong that he prayed for the latter?  TJ mumbled sleepily as he spooned up against her back and curled an arm over her waist.  No, he wasn’t that lucky.  They were somewhere on the ship.

 

Greer gave his lieutenant a questioning look as he stood next to the gate overseeing the supplies coming in from the planet before he crossed through again.  “What’s up? Problems?” That superior brow rose as did the corner of his mouth as he smirked.  “Don’t worry, brother, you’ll get back to your little honey as soon as your shift is over.  You know Chloe understands.  Besides, I thought you’d be happy about all the resources we were able to find on the planet.”

 

“No,” Scott shook his head, more than a little tired and worn out from battling the Lucians.  “It’s not that.  I am happy … kinda.  Doctors Rush and French are missing.  You … ah … you didn’t see them with the foraging party, did you?”

 

The master sergeant cocked his head towards the doorway of the gate room, his expression growing serious.  “I take it they’re not answering either of their radios?” 

 

Scott shook his head.  “Volker said he talked to Belle earlier to let her know about the planet, but there’s been no contact in …” he glanced down at his watch, “… four hours.”

 

“Miss Belle never turns off her radio.  You check the obvious places … quarters, observation deck, control room, lab, hydro-?“

 

“Yeah.”

 

“I can do a sweep if you want,” Greer offered.  Scott sighed and nodded, not even bothering to ask his friend if he wanted help.  He was much more comfortable with solitary tasks, and it would give him a chance to wind down.  “I’ll check in with you if I find anything.”

 

Ronald took off at a steady pace, his rifle at his side.  The colonel had thought it a good idea for military personnel to hang on to their weapons until they could make sure _all_ the Alliance members were accounted for.  They couldn’t afford any more surprises.  He started with A-deck and made a thorough sweep, working his way down and stopping civilian and military crew members alike to ask if they’d seen the pair of scientists.

 

He was beginning to worry when he was halfway done with C-deck and he still had seen neither hide nor hair of them.  They couldn’t have gotten past his notice on the planet.  Belle usually made it a priority to be teamed with him.  A slow relieved grin spread over his face as he entered the laundry facilities, relishing the heat that seemed to permeate the room.  Clothes and gear were spread out over the floor in a messy trail, leading up to the only crate in the room with its lid askew.

 

A quick peek inside confirmed what he already knew … Belle curled up with Rush, both sound asleep and buried beneath the extra blankets stored there.  He left the room as quietly as possible and made his way back to the gate room to report in.  The longer it had taken to find them, the more worried Greer had become.  He still hadn’t forgiven Rush for stranding them on the ancient ship, or for the mutiny which pitted civilian against military, but the arrogant scientist made Belle happy, and that was enough to keep him around.  At least now he could put his mind to rest.

 

“Scott, come in,” he said once he’d left the area.  “I found them.”

 

“Well at least now they’re accounted for,” the lieutenant breathed in relief.  “We’ve just closed the gate and are seconds away from FTL, so I don’t have to worry that a vital part of our crew is missing.  You turning in?”

 

“Shower,” the master sergeant barked gruffly as he thought of his own girl waiting for him in their quarters.  “Then I’ll grab some shut eye.”

 

“See you tomorrow… Scott out.”

 

Greer clipped his radio to his vest and slung his rifle over his back as he headed towards the showers.  He couldn’t stop thinking of the two scientists.  They even clung to one another in sleep as if they were on the verge of being ripped apart.  Belle had been lying on her stomach, her arms over her head, half buried beneath Rush with the fingers of both hands entwined.  He didn’t even want to think of what the cantankerous old bastard would be like if something happened to Belle.  She made him human.  He’d changed from the emotionally closed off man Greer had met so long ago on Icarus.  As he tossed his dirty clothes into the makeshift laundry basket and left the showers, he sighed.  Perhaps he’d been too hard on the man, maybe he wasn’t as bad as he seemed …

 

The door slid open to the quarters he shared with Lisa and he shook his head, a slow grin curving his mouth as she saw him and held out a hand for him to join her.  It didn’t matter … he had his own woman to worry about just now.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

**Three weeks later** **…**

 

_Belle_ _… protect Belle_ _… love Belle_ _… keep her safe._

_Safety deposit box_ _… cannery_ _… red light_ _… painpainpainpainpain_ _…_

_Dannic’s malicious feral smile as he held the device to Nicholas’s chest_ _… pain_ _… Kiva_ _… stargate_ _… ninth chevron_ _… Lucian Alliance_ _…_

_An anguished cry ripped from his throat_ _… “You’re gonna kill me!”_

_Belle_ _… danger!_ _…_ “No!” he grunted as he sat bolt upright in bed, his hand pressed to his chest as his breaths came in sharp pants.  He glanced about the darkened room, only the FTL lights offering their weak illumination through the porthole.  Home … Destiny … Belle.  He pushed away his disjointed thoughts as his hands reached out blindly for her slender form in the bed next to him.

 

Her eyes fluttered open as he spooned against her back.  She could feel the tremors ratcheting through his body.  “Nicholas,” she murmured sleepily, reaching for his bare thigh, urging him to cover her completely if that was what he needed.  “Another nightmare?”

 

Rush curled his right arm beneath her head and wrapped it about her shoulders, the other tightening over her waist as he drew her back against him.  His threw his leg over both of hers and buried his face against her nape, his scruff causing a delightful friction against her skin.  He pressed a lingering kiss just below her ear and sighed as he felt some of his terror ebb away.

 

“Nicholas?” she hummed softly, reaching up to gently pet his hair.  “Are you alright, love?”

 

He nodded stiffly and squeezed her just a little bit tighter.  “Same dream, Belle.  I’ll be ok.  As long as I wake and find you beside me, _mo chroí_ , I’ll be ok.”

 

“I love you, Nicholas.  I’ll always be here for you,” she said, the sentiment ruined by a huge yawn.  She glanced at the digital face of the clock on the nightstand to note it had only been three hours since they’d retired after a twelve hour shift.  He would have kept working if she hadn’t dragged him out of the control room.  “Try to go back to sleep.”

 

“I _can’t_ , Belle.”  His voice was barely more than an agonized whisper.  He didn’t want to close his eyes again and imagine himself back on that Goa’uld space craft, locked in the hold and at the mercy of Kiva and Dannic as they tortured him into submission.  He didn’t want to think of his precious Belle alone on Destiny mourning his loss, his Belle in danger with no way for him to protect her. 

 

She pressed her lips into a tight line to fight back a sob.  It killed her to see him so broken and unable to help him.  “Have you thought anymore about talking to TJ? She –“

 

“No!  No, Belle, I’m not going to let anyone see me like that … I won’t,” he hissed, rolling away from her and sitting up on the side of the bed to drink deeply from their canteen.

 

“Nicholas, you know TJ wouldn’t judge you.  She and Everett … well … TJ more so … they asked us to be godparents to Claire.  She cares about you, darling.  She would try to help you if you but asked it of her.  She might be able to give you a different perspective –“

 

“No.  That’s my final word on the matter, Belle.  Stop nagging.”

 

Belle dragged herself up to sit behind him, wrapping her arms around him and resting her head on his shoulder.  She knew the anguish and turmoil which plagued him and refused to get angry over something he said because of it.  “I’m only concerned for you, love.”

 

“I’m sorry,” he said, lifting her hand from his chest and dropping a lingering kiss to her palm.  “I know you’re only trying to help.”  He shrugged out of her embrace and reached for his jeans, pulling them on.  “I think I’ll go for a walk … clear my head.”

 

Belle reached for her radio on the nightstand and turned up the volume.  She set it down next to her on his pillow and laid down again.  “I’m here if you need me, Nicholas.”

 

He leaned over and pressed his lips to hers.  “I know.  I love you.”

 

“I love you too,” she whispered as she watched him walk to the door and disappear past the bulkhead.  She knew him well enough to know he’d rather let his worries fester instead of talking about them.  He’d either work through them on his own, or he’d come to her for help.  She’d be willing to bet he chose the former option.

 

Nicholas rubbed wearily at the ache in his neck as his feet automatically carried him to the control interface room.  Park looked up at him in surprise.  “I thought you were gonna get some sleep,” she said.

 

“Yeah, so did I.”  He made his way over to his console and frowned down at the screen.  There were several pages open, overlapping one another, the most prominent lined in flashing red.  He cast a sideways glance at Lisa.  “What’s going on here, then?”

 

She heaved a frustrated breath.  “Some sort of crash.  The interface is frozen.”

 

“Yeah?  Why didn’t you call me?” he asked, already entering keystrokes to free up the glitch.  


“Well, I was gonna try a re-start first.  That’s fixed it in the past,” she said as he reached for the notebook in his back pocket and found the string of commands he was looking for.  Almost immediately the red page beeped and disappeared.  The other pages followed suit and the console screen returned to its normal state.  She gaped at him.  “What did you just do?”

 

“Well it seems to have fixed the problem,” he said with a wry quirk of his lips.

 

“Yeah,” she snapped irritably.  “I can see that!  _How_?”  
  
She took a few steps towards his console, but he turned and walked out of the room, calling over his shoulder, “Good night, Dr. Park.  Glad to see you have everything well in hand.”   
  
“W-wait! Where are you going?” Lisa called after him.  
  
“For a walk. You get into trouble next time, call me.”

 

Lisa stared after him in frustration, but he kept walking.  His stomach flip-flopped with excitement as he stepped into the elevator and pressed the panel to take him up to A-deck.  With a whisper of sound, the lift rose, its doors whooshing open to reveal the deserted corridor.  He moved through the halls, casting furtive glances over his shoulder to make certain he wasn’t followed. 

 

A-deck wasn’t widely used, consisting mostly of crew quarters and a few labs set aside for research.  There were two smaller observation decks, one on either side of the ship, but not nearly as spacious as the main lounge one floor down.  Belle sometimes liked to sit in the one on the port side and work in relative peace and quiet on her laptop without the usual chatter of the crew in their off hours.  There were also several sections of the deck which had been cordoned off until repairs could be made.  He wondered if they’d ever be able to repair everything on the damaged ship.  It was so vast and had suffered so much in the thousands of years it had traveled the universe.

 

Rush stopped and stared as he came to a dead end in the corridor, pathways off to the right and left.  He stared at the wall in anticipation, his hands nervously twitching at his sides.  He’d always thought this section of bulkhead was purely for decoration with its circular inserts and lit panels.  He should have known better.  The Ancients didn’t do anything without a reason and this was no different.  His hand shook as he moved to their version of an intricate keypad, studying the symbols carefully.  Finally he depressed four of the buttons in what someone else would think was a random order.  Immediately, the largest circular insert on the wall began to spin.  It was simply a much larger version of the door locks prevalent in the rest of the ship.  As the lock ceased to spin, the entire wall dropped down into the floor to reveal another set of doors behind it.

 

These doors looked far more ornate than any others he’d encountered thus far with their Ancient carvings.  Nicholas studied the doors for a moment, allowing his anticipation to build, his heart beating a rapid tattoo against his ribs.  He turned back to the wall pad and pressed the large button at the top of the keypad.  His eyes widened as he took a faltering step forward into the room, unable to believe what he saw before him.

 

After months of barely surviving, struggling to learn Destiny’s meager systems available to them, and fighting off a horde of invaders who sought to take the ship from him, his program had finally produced the code he needed.  If he were less than the sedate and carefully controlled scientist he was, he might have given a whoop of joy as Destiny’s bridge opened up before him.  He doubted Belle would have been able to contain her glee.

 

Rush walked to the railing, pausing a moment as he surveyed the entirety of the room before making his way down the small set of steps set to either side of the platform on which he stood into the main area of the bridge and studying one of the consoles.  He pushed a button, and one by one, the various screens and panels around the room lit up, the lights coming on above the central command chair.  A moment later, the entire room began to move and what appeared to be three large screens at the front on the room began to clear, revealing themselves to be windows much like the one on the observation deck.  The bridge rose up out of its position tucked away safely inside the top of the ship and lifted until the windows were clear of all obstruction, giving a clear view of Destiny as she flew through the FTL vortex.

 

Nicholas walked over to the central window and leaned forward against the console, overwhelmed with his discovery.  His legs trembled as the sheer magnitude of what he’d found overwhelmed him and he sat down, taking the notebook from the back pocket of his jeans, eager to begin.  To say he was surprised at hearing the cheerful lilting voice behind him would have been putting it mildly.

 

“You’re not going to tell anyone, are you?”

 

Rush turned slowly in his chair to see his wife – his very _dead_ wife – sitting casually in a chair at the next station, a beatific smile upon her face.  His heart skipped a beat as he murmured, “Gloria,” in a stunned whisper of breath.

 

Her smile widened as if it were the most natural thing in the world to be sitting there with him.  “Your program finally worked: unlocked the master code.”  She tilted her head in that way that never failed to amuse him, regarding him steadily.  He wasn’t amused, however, more bewildered judging from the frown which puckered his brow.  “You found the keys to controlling all of Destiny’s systems – everything,” she continued.  “And you’re not going to tell _anyone,_ are you?”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle groaned as she hurried down the corridor to the mess, her eyes refusing to cooperate and remain open for more than a few seconds at a time.  What she wouldn’t give for a double shot Venti mocha-chino from the coffee shop around the corner from her flat – or what had been her flat what seemed like eons ago.  She could just imagine how Nicholas must feel with barely three hours of sleep under his belt.

 

The large open room which housed the mess was filled with grumbling and unhappy crew members when she finally arrived.  She could understand their misery when she took a tray from Becker and arched a brow at her friend.  “That’s it?  Becker, mashed potatoes is an unacceptable breakfast food,” she grumbled.

 

The tall man shrugged and smiled apologetically.  “Sorry, Dr. French, we’re low on supplies and the colonel has instituted his rationing policies again.”

 

She sighed and waited for him to fill her canteen and hand it back along with a cup of what served as tea aboard Destiny.  “It’s not your fault, dear.  Thank you.”  Her mood didn’t improve when she turned to find a table and noticed Camille trying to wave her down from her own table in the corner.  _Oh, hell no!  It’s just too early for this crap._   She ignored her and moved over to sit with Eli and Chloe.  “Hey, guys,” she murmured in greeting, taking a seat next to the boy genius.  “Where’s Scott, Chloe?  Or am I just that late this morning?”

 

“You’re just that late,” Eli said, frowning down at his own breakfast.  “He’s already reported for duty.”

 

“Not like you to be so late, Belle.  Rough night?” Chloe asked as she sipped her tea.

 

Belle hummed in a disgruntled tone and settled her tablet next to her on the table, switching it on and waiting for it to load as she picked disinterestedly at her food.  “Yeah, Nicholas is still having nightmares and last night was no exception.”

 

“The Nakai dreams?” Chloe asked with a shudder.  She could only relate too well since she still had dreams of their time with the blue aliens.

 

“No,” Belle said, shaking her head.  “These are from when he was tortured by the Alliance.  I’ve been trying to convince him to talk to TJ, but you know how stubborn he is.”

 

“Do you think he’d talk to me?” the girl asked.  Her heart had softened toward the scientist since he’d gone to great lengths to rescue her from the alien ship.  He could easily have gotten himself and Belle out without bothering to save her, but he hadn’t.  He’d been there for her to talk to on more than a few occasions when nightmares had plagued her and sometimes she felt closer to him than her own lover.  Life aboard Destiny had changed her like many others of the crew and she was better for it.  She felt she’d grown exponentially in the last eight months.

 

“You could try, Chloe.  I don’t care who he talks to if it will make him feel better.  I worry about him.  He’s not sleeping, he hardly eats and he works entirely too much.”  Belle turned her gaze to the tablet and pushed her meager breakfast away in disgust.

 

“Dr. French, might I have a word?” Camille asked, coming over to the table with her ever present file folders.

 

Eli collected their breakfast trays and rose from the table.  “Well, I’ve got a shift.  See you guys later.”  He didn’t have anything against the IOA representative, but he’d still rather not have to sit through one of her diatribes.

 

Chloe remained, daring the woman with a pointed look to ask her to leave.  Belle sighed as she began looking over the duty roster.  “What is it, Camille.  I’m rather busy.”

 

Camille sat down next to Chloe and folded her hands atop the stack of folders.  “Colonel Young and I met with General O’Neil and several of my superiors with the –“

 

“Chloe, can you take our class this morning in the gate room.  I don’t know if I can dig up enough energy for aerobics this morning,” Belle interrupted.  “Besides, I want to look in on my godchild before I put in a shift in control.”

 

“Sure,” the girl agreed, her eyes sparkling as she could practically hear Camille grinding her teeth.  She rose from the table and winked at her friend.  “See you later, Belle.”

 

Belle checked off a few more things on the tablet before giving Camille her attention again.  “Are you going to chew it to death, Camille, or will you be getting to the point of your intrusion soon?”

 

The woman bristled, but held her tongue, pasting a strained smile on her face.  “As I was saying … we met with the general and my superiors.  They feel that since we’re stuck with the Alliance members who survived the incursion, we should try to conduct interviews, see how much they know about Lucian movement on Earth, see what they know about any future attempts to gain access to Destiny –“

 

Belle arched a brow at the woman and moved to get up from the table.  “Good luck with that.”  She stared down at the restraining hand Camille placed on her arm, but sat back down again.  “Camille, I just don’t see what you want from me.”

 

“TJ is still recovering and is only taking partial shifts in the infirmary.  I’d ask her to help with the interviews, but I don’t want to push her.  Your original personnel file says you took a semester of psych.  That’s more than TJ has done and Jack thinks you’d be more than qualified to help us out.”

 

Belle’s eyes narrowed as she regarded her shrewdly.  “You want to integrate them into society … _our_ society … after everything they’ve done.  Everett will never allow it.”

 

“Colonel Young may not have a choice.”

 

Her laughter was mocking at best, a habit she’d picked up from Rush.  “Don’t discredit the colonel, Camille.  You have to take into consideration that HWC isn’t as prevalent here as you’d like.  And I assure you, dearie, if you try to replace him with Telford, I will do my damnedest to stop you.”

 

Camille’s gaze slid away under Belle’s scrutiny, more than a little uncomfortable.  All she needed was for the younger woman to go running back to Rush with her concerns and have him intercede.  “No one is trying to usurp the colonel’s authority.”

 

Belle set her cup down with more force than necessary and gathered up her canteen and tablet.  “I’m glad to see we’re on the same page.  I’ll give you two hours, Camille, but let me make it clear that I’m doing this to give an honest interpretation of what I see.  I will not doctor my reports to make the IOA happy.  If they’re a threat, you can believe I’ll make sure Jack and HWC know it.  The welfare of our people comes before your ambition to advance.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle stopped by TJ’s quarters before meeting with Camille in the lounge she’d commandeered for her interviews.  The medic looked a bit frazzled, not to mention pale.  “How are you feeling?” she asked, setting her little bundle on the table by the sofa before taking the baby from her friend.  Claire cooed happily as Belle nuzzled her cheek.  “Hello, sweetling.  Are you giving mommy difficulties this morning?” she crooned.

 

“I’m ok, I guess,” TJ sighed, dropping down on the sofa and reaching for the treat Belle had brought.  “Oooh, Belle, where did you get blueberries?”

 

“I snuck them out of the hydroponics lab while everyone was distracted with the move to the dome,” she admitted unashamedly as she paced, lightly bouncing the baby in her arms.  “You need to keep your strength up for Claire.”

 

“Everett has been bringing me his rations I think.  If we don’t find a planet soon to replenish our supplies …”

 

“I know.  I wish my peach trees were doing better.  Once they’re moved into the dome, I think they’ll flourish, but we’ll still have several months yet before they bear fruit.”

 

TJ munched happily on the blueberries, a blissful smile stretching her lips.  “Did you hear about Camille trying to integrate the Lucians into the crew?  Everett came by an hour ago to check on us and told me about it.  Actually, he came by to try to talk me out of my shift.”

 

“He’s just worried about you,” Belle said, watching Claire’s eyes droop sleepily.  “And yes I know all about Camille’s plans.  TJ you know I don’t approve of Everett’s policies at times, but I want you to know I will support him in this if necessary.  I’m supposed to help her with the interviews and I’ve already warned her that I won’t hold back in my assessments.”

 

“Wow,” TJ gaped.  “She’s really a piece of work, isn’t she?  Your support will surely mean a lot to Everett, Belle.  Thanks.”

 

“We have to put our people first.  I won’t be a part of having them harm another member of our family,” she vowed staunchly, pressing her lips to the baby’s brow before handing her back to her mother.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Belle hid a yawn behind her hand as she listened to Camille interview the little redheaded Lucian.  Greer barely spared a glance for her as he stood next to her chair in the corner.  She was glad he was there to provide security.  Not that she couldn’t have easily protected herself and Camille, but it was a comfort to have her friend there.  Some of the Alliance members they’d interviewed thus far were downright creepy.  If Nicholas found out what she’d been doing, he’d pitch a right foul fit.  Actually, she frowned, she was surprised she hadn’t been summoned to his side before now.

 

As she quickly took notes on the handheld tablet, she found she could easily come to like the petite girl.  Ginn sat across from Camille on one of the sofa’s in the lounge, a low coffee table separating them.  She was bright and intelligent with a keen eye and wasn’t one to mince words with the Asian woman.  Yes, she could definitely come to like her.

 

“Ancient legend said the address led to great understanding.  It could make you as powerful as the gods,” she said, answering Camille’s question as to why the Alliance wanted Destiny so badly.  


“Which gods?” Camille asked with a cynical smile.

 

“Camille,” Belle sighed, clucking her tongue in irritation.  “I’m sure Ginn isn’t referring to the ones familiar in our own culture.  Try not to be condescending please.”  She made the note on her tablet without even looking up to see the woman’s dark eyes flash hotly in her direction.

  
Ginn smiled at the petite astrophysicist who wouldn’t let the older woman run roughshod over her.  “Don’t ask me.  I assume it meant god-like power, like the ascended Ancients.  If you could control time and space …”  
  
“Wait. You think that Destiny is  _capable_  of that?” Camille interrupted.  
  
The girl’s anxiety increased as she struggled to explain the beliefs which had been forced on her by the Alliance.  “I don't know. That's what the legend said. You asked me why the Lucian Alliance wanted the ship so badly. Why are  _you_  here?”  
  
“I'm trying to understand _your_ perspective.”

 

“We’re here simply by chance, Ginn.  We didn’t choose this, but since we’ve been here, we’ve done all we can to learn as much about the ship as we can,” Belle answered, seeing no reason to hide the truth from the girl.  How else were they to get her to trust them?  She didn’t reveal anything that wasn’t already basic knowledge.

 

Ginn nodded to Belle with just the hint of a smile at her honesty before turning her cold gaze back to Camille with whom she was clearly losing patience.  “You really want me to go over the last twelve or thirteen years? The how and the why of the Lucian Alliance?”

 

Camille gestured her hand to give Ginn the floor, clearly eager for exactly that.  Belle rolled her eyes, but held her tongue.

 

“They're warlords. On my home planet they would burn our farms so we had nothing to eat but the food they supplied. They told our teachers what to teach. Children were given weapons and trained to fight. Two years ago I was taken by a gang at gunpoint and told if I didn't join the Alliance guard, my family was going to be murdered,” Ginn told them, her tone becoming more heated as she thought of the atrocities she’d had to endure.  
  
“So you're saying that you had no choice in  _any_ of this?” Camille asked, disbelief evident in her tone.

 

“Enough, Camille.  The girl is not on trial,” Belle admonished.  “This interview is to simply get to know one another.  I for one would not like to make her think we’re trying to judge her.”

 

Ginn’s hands clenched in her lap as she bit back whatever she’d been about to add, grateful for Belle’s interference with the other woman.  “We’re not getting enough food,” she said instead, turning her concerns to what her people were going through in the containment area where they’d been confined.  
  
_“None_  of us are. We haven't been able to replenish our supplies in some time,” Camille said a bit regrettably.

  
A twinge of panic entered the girl’s voice.  “You're saying we could all starve?”  
  
“Yes.”

 

“It’s not as dire as all that,” Belle scoffed.  “We’ve been aboard Destiny for eight months and she has yet to fail in providing for us.”  
  
Her mind somewhat relieved, Ginn turned to another concern which continued to plague not just her, but her comrades in general.  “What are you gonna do with us? You can't keep us locked in that hold forever.”  
  
“That hasn't been determined yet,” Camille told her, casting a pointed look at Belle, warning her not to interrupt again.  One she completely disregarded.  
  
“Colonel Young is going to make that decision?” the girl asked.  
  
“I will have a say.”    
  
Ginn’s gaze swung anxiously between the two of them and Belle reached out to lay a comforting hand on her arm.  “Some of us have been co-operative.  There's more we can do. There are those among us who are no danger to you. Please -- give us a chance to prove it to you.”

 

“Don’t worry,” Belle said reassuringly.  “We’re doing everything we can to come to a peaceful solution … one that will benefit everyone.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

The doors to the containment area opened with a whoosh and two armed guards escorted David Telford back inside.  Still limping and favoring his injured abdomen, he hobbled over to a crate and sat down.  He was just as frustrated as his former associates, but he had more reason to feel guilt than the others.  He’d betrayed everyone who had ever trusted him as well as his country.  People under his command had died because of his duplicity and it was a bitter pill to swallow.  Varro came to sit beside him, his face screwed up in askance.

 

“What are they going to do with us?” the Lucian lieutenant asked in hushed tones as the guards backed out of the room and locked the door behind them.  
  
David eyed the man steadily.  “They didn't tell me anything. I'm a traitor,” he said.  He knew the anxiety the man was suffering.  He wasn’t afraid of being dumped on the first habitable planet; knew Everett wouldn’t do that considering their history, but he was still just as uncertain about the future as the Lucians.  
  
“You know Young. What'll he do?”  
  
He shook his head wearily.  “I  _used_  to know him. Trust me, he's changed.”  
  
Varro, frustrated and angry, rose to his feet and walked away, wondering how much more he’d be forced to endure.  Telford sighed.  The man was fortunate he didn’t have to suffer through the same hospitality the Alliance had treated Rush to.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

“Hey!  There you are.  I’ve been looking all over for you,” Riley called as he entered the observation lounge and found her hunched over a stack of paperwork for the colonel.

 

Belle neatened the reports she’d been hand writing – what she wouldn’t give for a printer and working email – and smiled at her friend.  “Hey, yourself.  Why didn’t you call me on the radio?”

 

“Because you weren’t answering,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest.  “What are you doing, anyway?  I was beginning to wonder if you’d slipped off with Rush again seeing as we can’t get him to answer either.”

 

“Reports for Colonel Young,” she replied, scooping them up in her arms as she rose to her feet.  “Wait … what was that about Nicholas?”

 

“Nevermind about your boyfriend; it’s lunchtime and I insist that you join me for rations, meager as they may be.”

 

Belle’s nose wrinkled in disgust as she remembered the watery mash she’d been served at breakfast.  Nicholas was no doubt hiding so he didn’t have to be subjected to it, choosing to suffer with his hunger than unpalatable food.  She followed Riley to the mess, stopping only a moment to drop off the reports in Young’s care rather than tempting fate and handing them over to Camille.  She wouldn’t put it past the woman to ‘lose’ them before Everett could see them.

 

“You’ve gotta be kidding me!” Volker groaned as he stared down at the gelatinous mass on his tray.

  
Belle squeezed his shoulder as she came up behind him.  “Suck it up, Dale.  It shouldn’t be much longer before we find a planet where we can replenish our supplies.”  She accepted a cup of tea from Becker but adamantly refused her rations.  “Dale can have mine if he’s still hungry.”

 

Riley accepted his tray and led her over to sit down with Park, Eli, Brody and Volker, who was still complaining.  “It’s hardly worth sitting down!”

 

Dunning nodded to Belle as he grumpily walked past and found a seat at the next table.  “Yeah, maybe we shouldn’t be giving our rations to the enemy.”  
  
Riley picked at his food with disinterest, much more focused on their conversation.  “They're human beings. They have rights. How we treat prisoners of war says everything about us as a moral and civil society.”

 

Belle eyed each of them with a somber expression.  “He’s right.  Despite what Rush suffered as their prisoner while he was trapped in Telford’s body, they didn’t deny him a meal.”

 

“That’s only because they wanted him to open the gate, Belle,” Brody snickered quietly.

 

Eli shot Riley a bemused frown.  “Which pamphlet did you get _that_ from?!”

 

“It’s what I believe,” the redheaded sergeant said, refusing to change his views.

 

Park shuddered.  “I don’t care _how_ secure they are. I can’t sleep knowing there’s a room full of people on this ship who would kill me first chance they got.”  
  
Belle sipped at her tea, appreciative of the artificial sugar substance the scientists had been able to develop from the ‘sugarcane’ they’d found several planets ago.  “Well, hopefully, we won’t have to deal with them much longer.”  


X*X*X*X*X

 

“Keep your voice down before you wake up my daughter, Camille,” Young snapped as he continued to argue with the woman.  Claire was asleep in her crib in the next room and he didn’t want her rest disturbed.

 

“You know, HR _was_ my job on Icarus.”

 

“And psych evals are TJ’s responsibility.  From what I’ve been able to deduce from Dr. French’s reports, Tamara was right to suggest she fill in for her,” he said, tapping a finger to the hand written reports Belle had brought him.

 

“She’s gonna need some time,” Camille stated knowingly.  “It’s gonna be hard enough for her to fulfill her duties as medic.  It can’t be easy for her to be away from the baby so soon.”

 

“TJ’s doing just fine, Camille.  Thanks so much for your concern.”  He smiled bitterly.  “Dr. French did a fine job in her stead.”

 

“Dr. French is uppity and snide.  She’s in no way TJ’s equal when it comes to psych despite her training,” Camille said disagreeably.  “Besides, she’s got more than enough duties on this ship to keep her busy without adding more.”

 

“She’s a good judge of character and her assessments were very detailed and informative.”

 

“Good judge of character?!  She’s in love with Nicholas Rush!  That doesn’t speak well for her mental health, colonel.”

 

Everett sat back in his chair and chuckled.  “Why don’t you just face it, Camille?  Belle doesn’t like you and you can’t stand it.  But this isn’t about how another member of the crew feels about you.  It’s not personal.  As to her relationship with Rush?  She makes him happy, and a happy Rush is not continuously trying to undermine my authority or slip a knife in my ribs.  You get me?”

 

“Yeah, when she isn’t conspiring _with_ him to do both,” she grumbled, raking a hand through her long dark hair.

 

“Great.  Fine,” he said dismissively, already tired of the conversation.  He stood up from his desk and moved to the sitting area, reaching for his canteen as he sat down, his back to her.

 

Apparently, she wasn’t willing to give up.  “The IOA reports our conflict with the Lucian Alliance in the Milky Way is escalating.  Intel suggests they may be planning an attack on Earth.”

 

“Have you learned anything from the prisoners?” he asked, not having had a chance to go through her reports as thoroughly as he had Belle’s.

 

She crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head wearily.  “Not yet.  It _would_ help if I could reassure them that we’re not just going to pump them for information and then dump them on the next planet.”

 

“Really?!” He smiled bitterly at her.  “Well, they dumped us on a planet to die. Is everyone on board willing to starve for them?”  
  
“We haven't come to that point yet,” she insisted.

 

Young stood up and walked around the sofa to face her.  “How ugly are you willing to let this get, Camille? I'm just asking because I don't think this has anything to do with the proper treatment of P.O.W.s and you know it.  They tried to kill us, and we do not have the capability to hold onto these prisoners over the long haul.”  
  
“They're not all dangerous,” she persisted, trying to reason with him.  “If you would just read my report …”  
  
" _I was just following orders_ is a claim that I've heard before. People will say anything to save themselves, Camille.”  
  
“So we're just gonna leave them on the next viable planet and then wash our hands of it?” she asked incredulously.  She really hadn’t thought – despite his military training – he was so cold hearted.  
  
“Let's hope we  _find_  a ‘viable planet’.  After what they did to our people, do you really think they deserve a chance?  Can you _honestly_ say you wouldn’t like to be rid of them?”  He strode over to the door and slapped the door release as Claire began to wail, giving her a pointed look.  “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to take my daughter to her mother for her feeding.”

 

Camille sighed, realizing that their conversation was over whether she liked it or not.  


X*X*X*X*X

 

Rush grumbled softly to himself as his eyes lifted briefly from the console to see his _dead_ wife sitting calmly in the chair … smiling at him.  He clenched his hand around his notebook and rubbed at his eyes.  He had the mother of all headaches and these hallucinations weren’t helping in the slightest.  He really didn’t have the time to figure out why Destiny had manifested her presence simply to taunt him.  If she had something important to say – something vital to his mission – why couldn’t she bloody well get to the point?!

 

“You thought this was gonna be easier, didn't you? Thought all you'd need to do is turn the key,” she murmured in her dulcet tones which had once been so soothing to him.  
  
“This ship -- its systems – were designed to be run by an entire crew,” he growled as he tried to explain and … “Why the hell am I trying to explain this to a figment of my imagination?”

 

“Well, you  _have_  a crew.  You should have brought Belle along with you and explained it to her.  She would help you, Nicholas, if you’d only ask.”  
  
“Yeah, a crew that knows what they're doing,” he groused, bemoaning the state of affairs on Destiny for the umpteenth time since he’d stepped onto the bridge.  There were so many more qualified minds he’d rather have stranded with him than some of those he already had.  “I _do_ intend to share my discovery with Belle … in my own time.”

 

“She’s going to be quite peeved with you, Nicholas.  The longer you wait …”

 

“Yes, thank you, dear.”  He consulted his notebook and compared it to the findings on his screen, erasing the line of code and making the corrections.  “You know, the Ancients never intended Destiny to operate on its own.”  
  
He looked up at Gloria, who simply smiled smugly.  He straightened up awkwardly, realizing what he’d said. “They were supposed to come here in person. There was a point to this mission -- there  _had_  to be.”  
  
She smiled unrepentantly.  “And yet the first thing you did was turn the autopilot system back on.”  
  
Rush rose from the chair and leaned his palms against the metal casing of the console, hanging his head as he prayed for patience.  “Until I can be sure I know how to use each function. I wouldn't want to stop accidentally in range of another binary pulsar, would I?”  
  
“Good plan!” she snarked in a cheerful tone.  “You wouldn’t be having quite so much difficulty, Nicholas, if you would confide in Belle.  She could offer you a different perspective and you actually _value_ her opinion.”

 

“You see, right now I'm trying to understand why  _Destiny_  stops at some planets and not others,” he said, ignoring her nagging.  Irritated, he turned away from his long dead wife, slapping his notebook onto the console.  “Certain environments can change significantly through the years, become dangerous even, but that would mean Destiny's got some kind of real-time sub-space link to the gates. And look here …” He pointed to the readout on one of the screens.  “… this planet we're approaching …different classification entirely -- not merely locked out, but it seems to be non-functional.”  
  
“So it would seem,” she said, sweetly agreeing with him.

  
He raked both of his hands through his hair in frustration.  “That's it. We need food  _now_. This planet we're approaching should be rich in plant life.”  
  
She smiled, her eyes alight with mischief.  “Big red X generally means ‘danger -- don't go there,’ doesn't it?”  
  
Nicholas scowled at her in irritation.  “Is this your only purpose -- to question my actions?”  
  
She shrugged nonchalantly and cast him a cheeky grin.  “So, what are you gonna do?”  
  
“Oh, well, I'll take that as a _yes_ , then.”  His hand paused but for a moment over the console as he wondered if he were making the right decision.  Finally he entered the command on the keyboard and Destiny dropped out of FTL, entering into normal space.  He cast Gloria one more look of askance – which she persisted to ignore – and stormed off of the bridge.  


He wasn’t surprised to find some of his team in the gate room wondering why they’d dropped out of FTL.  Eli was the most vocal.  “There _has_ to be a reason that Destiny dropped out.  Belle, what do you think?” he asked, dragging her over to stand at the console.  
  
Rush nudged between them, arching a brow at the boy.  “There  _is_.”

 

Belle gave him a curious look.  “Where’ve you been, darling?  For a time, I’d started to wonder if you’d somehow found another lab to hide in.”

 

He couldn’t bring himself to meet her gaze, feeling guilty for not sharing his discovery with her … yet.  _Tonight.  Tonight I’ll tell her_ , he vowed silently.  “I’ve just been busy, _mo chroí_.”  He looked up at the rest of them all clustered around the main console.  “We’re in range of a planet that looks like it may have food and water.”

 

“Riley says there are no gates,” Young piped in, stifling a yawn.

 

“Shuttle range.”  
  
Eli, who had rounded the console to stand on Belle’s left, leaned over her shoulder to look at the streaming data on the screen.  “Wow!  Look at that.  How does Destiny have data on a planet with no gate on it?”  


“Well, there  _is_  a Gate on it. It appears to be non-functioning,” Rush explained, sighing as Belle’s hand absently stroked the back of his neck.  He relaxed under her touch, allowing some of his tension to ease from his back and shoulders.  His conversation with the manifestation of Gloria had wound him up more than he’d thought.  
  
Riley tilted his head to the side and eyed him speculatively.  “So  _Destiny_  just happened to drop out close enough for us to use the shuttle? That's convenient.”  
  
“Well, it's not magic!” Rush snapped, patting Belle on the back as she emitted a choked cough and glared at him.  “As I've been doing all along, I've been telling Destiny any way I can how short of resources we are.”  
  
Young quickly interjected, putting an end to any arguments.  “Well, we'll send a team.”  
  
“OK. I suggest we land close to the Gate; try and determine why it's not working; maybe even repair it,” Rush suggested, leaning his forearms against the console and propping his chin in his hand.  
  
“The shuttle trip'll take just under an hour,” Eli said, glancing up at the countdown clock on the wall.  “Less than seven hours total. That's not much time.”  
  
“However, if we can get the Gate operational, we'll be able to transport a lot more food and water than the shuttle,” Young said, his gaze swinging between the lot of them, his tone brooking no objection.  They were in dire need of resources and didn’t have time to quibble about technicalities.  
  
Brody, however, couldn’t stop himself from arguing.  “Two Gates cannot dial each other in this close a proximity.”  
  
“This planet may well be in range the next time we drop out of FTL. If we can get the Gate active, we might be able to dial back down the line,” Belle countered, studying the logistics on the screen and making notes on a sidebar, her fingers rapid over the keyboard.  
  
“You wanna go?” Young asked, turning to Rush.  
  
“No-no, I should stay here,” Nicholas murmured absently, rejecting his offer..  
  
“Well, what's more important right now?  Your expertise might come in handy in reactivating the gate and –“

 

“Well there's a number of systems that've been malfunctioning of late. I'm working on  _those_ , actually,” Rush snarked irritably.

 

“What about you, Belle?” Eli and Riley asked at the same time. 

 

Belle looked up at the both of them, one brow arched dubiously.  “I’m no engineer.  I don’t see how I could help,” she caviled, knowing Rush wouldn’t be happy about her going off planet without him.  She really was trying to stick to their agreement not to go without the other, but sometimes it was unavoidable and he’d sulk for days.  She wasn’t in the mood for an irritable Rush and thought it would be better to decline.

 

“Come on, Belle.  You know you’re always needed,” Riley said, grinning at her.  “You just have a way of making yourself invaluable.”

 

“Yeah, and you know as much about the gate and what we’re capable of doing with the Kino remote as I am.  I might need you,” Eli pouted, turning his wide pleading brown eyes on her.

 

Young shook his head at the three of them indulgently.  “Fine.  Dr. French you can go in Rush’s place.”

 

“No, absolutely not,” Nicholas protested.  “She doesn’t go off planet unless I accompany her.  She gave her word.”

 

“Well, you’ve already said you had other matters to attend.  Belle goes in your stead.”

 

“But-“

 

“You can go with her or in her place,” Young argued.

 

“Nicholas, I’m sure it’ll be fine –“Belle said, closing out the window she was using on the console.  “You said it was necessary.”

 

“No, it will _not_ be fine.  You’re not going!”

 

“Nicholas, is there anything you know about the planet that would discourage interplanetary travel?” she asked stubbornly, crossing her arms defiantly over her chest.

 

“No,” he admitted honestly.

 

“Is there something wrong with the shuttle that would somehow put me or the team in danger?”

 

He scowled darkly at her, not liking where this was going.  “No.”

 

Young clapped his hands, breaking into their argument.  “Great, then it’s settled.  Belle’s going.”  He held up a hand and grinned as Rush opened his mouth to object once more.  “That’s an order.”

 

Belle leaned up on her toes and planted a kiss on his whiskered cheek, whispering softly that she loved him before Eli and Riley could drag her away from his side at the console.  Rush watched her go, his gut churning with dread, and helpless to do anything about it.  


X*X*X*X*X

 

Young didn’t find it quite so amusing when he stormed into the infirmary thirty minutes later to find TJ packing equipment for the offworld mission, already dressed in her fatigues.  “TJ, just what do you think you’re doing?” he barely glanced at Corporal Barnes who sat next to TJ’s desk rocking the baby.  Annie had volunteered to help out anytime she wasn’t on duty and had become a reliable source of comfort for their little family.

 

“Good morning to you too, Everett,” she greeted him in a dry tone.  “I’m almost ready to go -- just packing up my kit.”  
  
“You’re not going.”

 

She gave him a defiant look, and then sighed.  He was only looking out for her safety.  “Well, I'll admit I'm not one hundred percent, but we're low on medicinals and I know we'll only be there a few hours, so I should at least take a look around. I'll take it easy.”  
  
He clasped her hands in his and pulled her away from her kit, making her focus on him for a moment.  “Tamara … I’m not trying to tell you what to do in regards to your job as medic.  I just want you to see this from my standpoint.  You just gave birth three weeks ago.  Claire needs you … _I_ need you.  What if –“

 

She pressed her fingertips to his lips and smiled reassuringly.  “Stop worrying.  Claire will be fine.  I’ve finally gotten the hang of that pump thing the scientists made for me and she’s not going to go hungry in my absence.  Annie is going to be watching her until I return.”  She let him pull her into a loose embrace and laid her head against his shoulder, knowing how he liked to worry.  “Stop worrying, Everett.  I’ll be fine.”

 

TJ gave him a soft kiss, picked up her bag and left the room.  Young turned to watch her, a frown marring his brow.  It was only right that he worried over the woman he loved, especially when he wouldn’t be there to protect her.  He was beginning to realize how Rush felt when he was separated from Belle.  God forbid!  Sympathy for Rush.  Next thing he knew, he’d be enjoying the food on Destiny.  


X*X*X*X*X

  
Rush and Belle were largely ignored as the team pushed past them to board the shuttle.  Scott would be piloting, with Riley filling in as his copilot.  Volker, Eli, TJ and Lisa quickly stowed their gear and Dunning and Vanessa made sure they were buckled securely before taking their own seats.  Greer stood at the bulkhead doors leading into the shuttle, impatiently tapping his foot in the hopes that their lead scientist would get the hint.

 

“I don’t want you to go,” Nicholas whispered against her lips as Belle clung to him.  “Young is doing this just to spite me.”

 

“Don’t pout, darling.  He simply wanted one of us to go down with the team in the event that we’re needed.  I’ll be fine.”  Her fingers toyed with the ends of his hair where they rested against his neck.  “You’re needed here, I’m needed there … another day on Destiny,” she grinned cheekily.

 

Greer cleared his throat … loudly.

 

Rush scowled, not bothering to turn and look at the man.  “Sergeant, I don’t have to tell you how important Dr. French is to me, do I?  Nor do I need to express my displeasure should anything happen to her while under the veil of your protection.”

 

“Nicholas,” she said in a low warning tone which he completely ignored.

 

“No, you don’t.  I won’t allow any harm to come to Miss Belle.  There’s no need for you to worry, Dr. Rush,” the big man said, amused with Rush’s thinly veiled threats.  “If we ever get out of here,” he mumbled under his breath.

 

Rush checked the buckles on her tactical vest once more and stepped back, allowing her to pass, but he couldn’t banish the dread churning in his gut.  He pressed one hand against the bulkhead doors as she and Greer disappeared inside and reached for the radio with the other so he could monitor the shuttle chatter on his way back to the bridge, praying she’d be safe.

 

Nicholas grumbled all the way back to the still undiscovered bridge, slamming his hand against the coded lock and shutting the door behind him.  “Fucking Young,” he seethed, sitting down hard in the captain’s chair and reaching out to check his calculations with those on the console.  “He knows better than to send her away from me.  If something happens to her, I swear I’m going to find an airlock and shove him out personally.”  


Gloria paced behind him, her dulcet tones far from soothing.  “You’re worried about her as you should be, but I'm worried about _you_ , Nicholas.”  
  
“Yeah, so am I. I've got work to do and I can't seem to leave myself alone,” he snarked.  “I suppose next you’ll tell me I should take comfort in the fact that the colonel allowed Lt. Johansen to go offworld as well.  I assure you it doesn’t matter one bloody bit.”

 

He waited for her catchy rejoinder, but it never came.  Instead, it was a voice he hadn’t heard in quite a while.  “You’re missing things.”

 

Nicholas raised his head from his work, slowly turning to look at the new arrival who had replaced the image of his wife.  The same man who’d gone into the chair interface to save Destiny from the alien invaders and then disappeared from a sealed room. “Doctor Franklin,” Rush murmured, surprise tinging his voice.  
  
“It's too much for one person. I don't care how smart you are,” the scientist said.  
  
Rush sat back in his chair and gave the man his undivided attention. “OK, so tell me: what am I missing?”  
  
“Well, for one, the data on the planet.”  
  
Rush frowned.  “It's extensive. What about it?”  
  
Franklin shoved his hands into his pockets and cocked his head to the side, regarding his former colleague steadily.  “You didn't notice the volcanic activity, the atmospheric super-rotation.”  


Nicholas glanced up at the shuttle through the bank of windows, steadily growing smaller as it approached the planet.  He checked his numbers on the screen again.  “It’ll be fine.” He scribbled a quick calculation in his notebook.  “They’ll be fine,” he said, unwilling to accept the alternative.   
  
“You've based your calculation on optimal structural integrity.”  
  
Rush rose angrily to his feet to glare at the man.  “I've based it on the specs in the database.”  
  
Franklin shook his head at Rush’s stubbornness.  “Which don't account for flaws that were developed over … I don't know … say, a million plus years.”

 

His head swung to the console near the communications chair, his feet moving as Franklin’s information hit home.  “Lt. Scott, this is Dr. Rush, do you read?” he asked, trying to keep the panic in his chest from being heard in his voice as he activated the comms.

 

Scott answered almost immediately.  “Yeah, I hear you.  Go ahead, Rush.”  
  
“You're about to enter an area of atmospheric super-rotation.”  
  
“Oh … kay, what does that mean?”  
  
“Well, I've done some calculations and you will experience some … excessive turbulence, but nothing the shuttle wasn't built to handle.”  He could vaguely hear Belle grumbling in the background about how he should have warned them before they’d left Destiny.  
  
Scott shared a quizzical glance with Riley, puzzled over Rush’s concern.  “OK, thanks for the heads-up.”

 

Rush paced anxiously, running a hand through his shaggy hair.  He looked over a Franklin who was now Gloria again.  “You’ve put Belle … and the others as well … in jeopardy, Nicholas.”

 

“Don’t you think I know that … now?” he hissed furiously.  
  
In the shuttle, Scott tightened his harness and put both hands on the controls.  “All right, you heard the man. Hang on. It'll feel a bit bumpy.”  The craft jolted roughly as it was lowered into the planet’s upper atmosphere and began to burn.  Nothing too unusual, the lieutenant thought, shooting Riley a grin as he relaxed a little.  “Not so bad, eh?”

 

“This is _good_? What would he consider bad?” Belle whimpered, taking TJ’s proffered hand and gripping it tightly.  Gods!  She hated to fly.  Why hadn’t she refused the colonel’s command and stayed on Destiny where she belonged … with Nicholas?  Why was it every time they were separated, something bad happened?

 

“Hang on, guys, hang on!” Scott bellowed, his voice unbearably loud in the confined space.

 

A vent pipe came loose at the back of the shuttle, the metal tubing smashing into a panel and sending a shower of sparks and a wisp of smoke into the cabin.  Several people cried out in panic as alarms sounded on the front console.  
  
On Destiny’s bridge, Rush switched on the comms again, fearful for the fate of his beloved.  “Lt. Scott, do you hear me?”  He waited a moment, and then another, but there was no response.  He asked again, growing desperate.  “Lt. Scott, can you hear me?”

 

There was a long pause that had Nicholas’s heart nearly stopping, but then finally Scott answered.  “Yeah, loud and clear.  We made it.”

 

Rush suppressed a sigh of relief, trying to hold himself together.  “Glad to hear it. Check back in once you've landed.”  
  
“Will do. Scott out.”

 

Rush collapsed in his chair and covered his mouth with his hand as he realized how wrong he could have been in his calculations.  If anything happened to his Belle … He couldn’t bear to think about it.  
  
Above the planet, Scott piloted the shuttle to an acceptable cruising altitude as he looked for a spot to set her down.  Their gentle descent was abruptly interrupted as the engines faltered, spluttered and then failed completely.  The craft began to plummet from the sky and Scott’s eyes widened as alarms sounded and half the lights on the control panels fell dark.  “Hang on!” he yelled urgently against the din of his panicking crew as he fought the dead controls to maintain steering.

 

“What's going on?!” TJ yelled, wincing at the painful grip Belle had on her hand.  
  
“Just lost power. Half of the systems are down.”

 

The shuttle coasted along in a powerless glide, plunging directly towards a mountain range and one particularly large peak.  Scott prayed to the controls as he struggled with them.  “You gotta give me something … you gotta give me something … come on!  Come on!”  


“Pull up!” Riley cried frantically.  
  
“I can't!”

 

The shuttle’s starboard wing clipped the side of the mountain as it soared past.  The craft shuddered violently, panels shorting out and sending another shower of sparks to the deck.  Belle screamed as her head cracked sharply against the bulkhead protrusion on her left, pain shooting directly to her injury and leaving her dizzy.  Eli tightened the strap on his harness and whimpered softly as he prayed.  The shuttle continued its downward descent, clipping the tops of trees as it sank ever lower to the planet floor.  Scott – only by the grace of God – managed to keep the ship’s nose level, but it was more than he could do alone. 

 

He grabbed for the handhold above his head, shouting out a warning to the others.  “This is it!  Brace yourselves!”

 

From his seat in the far rear section, Dunning reached around the bulkhead and grabbed Park’s hand.  They clung to each other as the craft headed closer and closer to the ground.  It smashed down onto a rocky plain, its forward motion propelling it onwards, skating along the shale.  The ship was still going too fast and a cliff face of solid rock loomed up, growing larger and larger in the window.  Riley cringed in terror as Scott dragged in a panicked breath, knowing there was no way to avoid a collision.  Time seemed to stand still as they crashed nose first into the base of the mountain, glass from the left front window shattering and peppering the occupants with its stinging spray.  Rubble and a shower of dust filtered in through the damaged portal as everyone was thrown forward violently against their harnesses, more dust and smoke billowing about them.  
  
Slowly the crew began to revive, shaking off the numbing shock of the crash.  The ship was enshrouded in darkness, only a few lights still functioning and dim at best.  A console sparked as groans and a few whimpered sobs filled the air.  Pulling himself up in his seat, Scott looked around to his left, cursing softly as he spied Riley flat on his back on the floor, the lower half of his body covered in metal debris.  The lieutenant dragged himself to his feet and pulled a flashlight from his jacket, kneeling next to an unconscious Riley.  His eyes flickered to the front of the cockpit.  The impact on the front left of the shuttle was so severe, part of the ship had nearly disintegrated and the rock wall was protruding through the jagged opening.  
  
Belle groaned, raising her hand to press against her aching temple.  TJ caught her hand before she could touch it.  “It’s ok, honey.  Let me see,” she said softly.

 

“Nicholas … “ she moaned helplessly.  She shrank away from the light as TJ shined it into her eyes.

 

“You’re going to be fine, Belle.  You’ve just got a nasty bump, but at least you avoided a concussion,” she told her friend.  “Hopefully the comms are still working so we can contact Destiny.”

 

Belle rested her head back against the bulkhead and fumbled with her harness, anxious to get free.  She bit her lip against the pain.  “I … I just need my Kino remote.  I should be able to send a message through it if the comms fail.”

 

“Hey, you alright?” Eli asked, kneeling beside TJ. 

 

“TJ!” Scott called, searching for her through the thick layer of dust still lingering in the air.

 

“Yeah,” she answered, leaving Belle in Eli’s capable hands.  “Is anyone hurt?”

 

“Over here.”  He pressed his finger against Riley’s neck, shining the torch up towards TJ as she walked over.  “You ok?”  She nodded as she joined him, her gaze questioning as she looked at Riley.  “He’s got a pulse.”

  
As TJ started to tend Riley, Scott stood up to check on the others, relieved to find them with only a few bumps, scrapes and bruises. Riley began to regain consciousness and cried out as TJ tried to calm him, holding his neck in both hands so he couldn’t turn his head and injure himself further.  “Just relax.  It’s ok, just relax.  Relax.”  
  
Instinctively, Riley reached for the panel crushing his lower body and tried to push it away.  “I can't move.”

 

Belle crawled over to them, swallowing hard to quell the nausea rising in her stomach.  She knelt at his side and took one of his hands, squeezing reassuringly.  “Hey.  You’re ok,” she said in relief.

 

“I don’t feel ok,” he murmured weakly.  “I can’t feel my legs … at all.”

 

X*X*X*X*X  


Young strode into the control interface room and glowered darkly at Brody.  He’d been informed about the shuttle crash and was nearly frantic with worry for the mother of his child.  “Where’s Rush?” he growled, trying to keep any and all emotion out of his voice.  He couldn’t afford to be a man in love.  Right now he could only be Destiny’s commander.

 

“No idea,” the engineer replied.  “I called him, though.”

  
Brody stood up from his console and activated the comms to link the colonel with the shuttle.  “This is Young.  Go ahead, Lieutenant.  What the hell happened down there?”  
  
“I'm still not sure what happened, sir.” He sighed.  “Like Rush said, it was a pretty rough ride through the atmosphere.”  
  
“Whoa. What D’you mean, like Rush said?”  
  
“He called to warn us on the ship's comm, but it seemed like we made it through fine, then shortly after, I lost flight control,” the lieutenant reported.  
  
“Injuries?” he asked, his voice rough with concern.  _Please not TJ, please not TJ._   “Is Tamara …”

  
“She’s fine, sir,” Scott rushed to assure him.  “Riley’s legs are pinned though.  TJ’s working on him.  Everyone else is fine.  Just minor bumps and bruises … a few scrapes.  Right now we’re trying to get the back door open.”  He looked back to where Greer, Dunning and Eli were trying to pry open the rear doors.  “We took a lot of damage, sir.  One of the windows is gone.”  


Rush strolled into the control room in time to hear the tail end of Scott’s report, his eyes widening with fear.  He nearly pushed Young out of the way to get at the comms.  “Lieutenant, how’s Belle?  Was she injured?”

 

“She’s got a bump on the head, but TJ said its minor.  Bottom line, though … I don’t think we’re gonna be flying out of here,” Scott said with a weary sigh.

 

Brody looked up at the countdown clock over the door.  “Destiny’s going to jump in six hours.”

 

“And we can’t stop it,” Young said, letting his head fall into his hand.  
  
Nicholas sagged in relief and moved to his own console, silently cursing himself for putting his Belle in danger.  What had he been thinking?  He had the presence of mind to begin thinking again and activated the comms on his console.  “Lieutenant, you need to find the gate.  Get it operational.  Hopefully, the next time Destiny drops out, we’ll still be in range.”  And if they weren’t, he didn’t care who found out.  He’d bloody well turn the ship around and go back for her.  


At the rear of the shuttle, they’d finally created a gap in the doors big enough to get through.  “Alright, copy that,” Scott said.  “I’ll check back in thirty minutes.”

 

Rush cut the comms on his console and looked up at the others, unable to disguise the guilty expression on his face.  He knew it was his fault, that he was wholly responsible for the crew’s present predicament.  He just had to find a way to fix it.  He had to find a way to bring Belle home to him.

  
X*X*X*X*X

 

Greer trekked up to the top of the ridge, staring down at the others.  Scott had sent him, along with Vanessa, Eli and Volker in search of the gate and so far they weren’t having the best of luck.  He peered out over the surrounding area and shook his head.  “I don’t see anything.”

 

Eli frowned down at the remote in his hand.  “I’ve got no addresses coming up, either.”

 

“Well this is where it should be,” Volker protested, groaning in frustration.

 

Vanessa shot him a dubious look.  “You sure?”

 

Dale rolled his eyes.  “No!  If I was _sure_ , there’d be a gate here.”  
  
“Can I shoot him?  Please?” James snarked, arching a brow in Greer’s direction.  She sighed when he just smiled and shook his head in the negative.  


X*X*X*X*X

 

Back at the shuttle, Riley screamed as Scott and Dunning slowly tried to lift the panel off his legs.  TJ, Lisa and Belle helped to hold him still, but the pain was too much and TJ forced them to stop, holding out her hands to the men.  “OK, stop, stop, stop!”

 

They released their grip on the panel and TJ ran a soothing hand over Riley’s brow as he gasped for breath.  “OK, I'm gonna try and reach in there and see if I can feel anything, OK?”  
  
Belle squeezed his hand and looked to TJ.  “Let him rest a minute.  You can clearly see how much it pains him.”

 

“No, it needs to be done.  I’m ok, Belle,” he panted weakly, dragging in as much air as possible.  He held tightly to Belle’s hand as he nodded to TJ. 

 

She scooted down towards the debris and gave the signal for Dunning and Scott to lift the panel again.  “Ok, lift it up.”  
  
Riley wailed in agony as the men lifted it up and TJ shoved her hand into the gap beside his right leg.  He continued to sob despite the soothing sounds Belle made to comfort him.

 

Finally Scott shook his head.  “TJ, we can’t hold it,” he ground out through clenched teeth.  
  
TJ snatched her hand back as they lowered the panel again.  As he lay gasping for breath, she held her hand out beside him where he couldn’t see that it was covered in blood.  “His leg’s stuck pretty good.  I think the pressure’s actually helping cut off circulation to a wound.”  
  
They all shared a look, one so filled with hopelessness, it made Belle want to scream.  Clearly none of them had a clue as to how they were going to free their fallen crewmate.  “Dunning, please would you fetch him some water from the canteen in my pack?” she asked, smoothing the dark red fringe of his hair away from Riley’s brow.  “That’ll help, right?”

 

Riley nodded and attempted a wan smile.  “Sounds good, Belle.”

 

“I’ll be right back.  I’m just going to step outside for a moment.”  She shot TJ and Scott a look and they didn’t hesitate to follow.

 

“What’s up, Belle?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest as he stared at her.

 

“I have an idea, but it’s rather risky.”

 

“Anything is better than standing around waiting for him to bleed out,” TJ said, pulling her gloves off and tossing them into her pack to be sterilized later.  “What do you have in mind?”

 

Belle wrung her hands in indecision, but she knew it was probably their only hope right now.  “Greer and his team are working on finding the gate and getting it functional again, right?  So we can return to Destiny that way?”

 

“Yeah,” Scott agreed.

 

“TJ, what do you think is wrong with his legs?  Do you think you and I might be able to –“

 

“I can’t be sure without being able to actually look at the wound.  I’d say he’d need more than what we can do for him though.  He’s going to need a vascular surgeon and perhaps an orthopedist if the damage is as extensive as I think it is.”

 

Belle closed her eyes and prayed they would have enough time to save her friend.  “We need to call Destiny, have the colonel secure us the doctors we need on board for when we return.”

 

“Belle, I understand your need to save him, but right now we can’t even get him out,” Scott said with a sympathetic look.

 

“And I’m not leaving him here!” she hissed furiously.  “When the gate is operational and the team returns, we’ll have extra hands to lift that thing and pull him out.”

 

“He’ll bleed out before we can carry him back –“ the lieutenant continued to object.

 

“Not if we use Eli’s and Volker’s belts as tourniquets and have someone bring a Kino sled from Destiny before we free him.  It should give us time to get him back to the ship and into the hands of the surgeons before we run out of time.”  She turned her gaze to TJ to find her grinning like a loon.  “It’ll work, right, TJ?” she asked hopefully.

 

“It’s a brilliant plan, Belle.  I’m glad to see you’ve been paying attention while helping me out in the infirmary,” she said.  “Now if only they can get the gate functional, we should be able to pull it off.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Eli’s remote pinged and he lowered it with a resigned sigh.  “Ok, Destiny just jumped.  This is so not good.”  
  
“Just try not to panic,” Vanessa said consolingly.  
  
“Experience tells me that this is a  _very_  good time to panic!” he snarked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.  
  
Vanessa shrugged, not worried quite yet.  They’d had worse situations they’d been able to overcome.  “What are the odds it'll still be in range next time it drops out?”  
  
“That is impossible to know,” Dale interjected as he stared at his surroundings in disgust.  
  
Greer called down to them from the top of the ridge high above them. “Hey!  I found it.”  
  
“The Gate?! You can see it from there?” Eli asked jubilantly, scrambling up the ridge to join him.  The others quickly followed. “I don't see it.”  


Greer gave them a moment to look around before delivering his unfortunate news.  “Look down.”  As they turned to him en masse, he scratched his booted foot over the ground, revealing the star gate buried beneath their feet. 

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

“You need to sleep or you’re going to make more mistakes.  If Belle were here, she would make you,” Gloria practically sing songed in his ear.

 

Nicholas lifted his head to glower at her. “You know, it would be easier if you would actually help,” he snarked, not allowing himself to think about his girl at the moment.  If he sat there and dwelled on the possibilities of never having her return to him, he’d lose his mind.  
  
“What makes you think I  _can_?” she asked.  
  
Rush lost his patience, snarling at her. “Can I speak to Franklin?”  
  
“Who?”  
  
“Gloria, please!” he said in a rare burst of impatience.  It didn’t matter, however, since she was long dead and simply a figment of his imagination.  “One of two things is happening here. Either I'm losing my mind or you and Doctor Franklin have somehow been manifested by the ship in order to communicate with me. Now, he tends to be a little bit more helpful when it comes to technical matters.”  
  
She smiled patiently.  “Let's see. What are you trying to do?”  
  
“Figure out how to control how long  _Destiny_  stops when it drops out of FTL.”  
  
“OK.”  She thought for a moment and then grimaced.  “Can't help you with that. Sorry.”  


“Right. I  _am_  losing my mind,” he mumbled under his breath as he rolled his eyes.  He slapped his notebook down onto the console and stood up to walk over to the central console where he studied the screen.  “There don't seem to be any Stargates coming up in Destiny's immediate path. Now, I have to stop this ship soon or we're gonna be out of range of the planet the team's stranded on, and I can’t leave Belle.”  
  
“And with no other Gates in range, you don't know how to explain to everyone else why the ship has stopped.”  
  
He sighed in exasperation. “Exactly. We can't just keep dropping in and out of FTL. I'm gonna damage the drives permanently. They have to run for a minimum of four hours each time they're activated which means, next time I drop out, I've got one last shot at this.”  
  
“Why don't you just tell the truth? Ask for help.”  
  
Rush shook his head.  “No. I can't,” he said bitterly.  “The colonel let the Lucian Alliance take over this ship. The man is mentally unstable and he's getting worse all the time. He nearly just killed a man in the holding area.  Though that would’ve been one less of those monsters for us to feed.”  
  
“Your negligence caused the shuttle to crash,” she reminded him.  
  
“The situation is desperate because of  _him_ ,” he said, glaring at her.  He knew it wasn’t her fault, that his guilty conscience was to blame, but he was steadfast in his beliefs that the colonel was unstable. “He's not fit to lead this mission.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Young took a long drink from his canteen, doing his best to ignore Camille’s patronizing tone as she scolded him for his loss of control with the prisoners.  And it was no help that he was worried sick over TJ and the rest of the team.  They’d reported back that they’d found the gate, but it would be a miracle if they could make it functional in time.  He stifled a groan as Varro was escorted in.

 

“I wanna apologize for my people's behavior,” the man said.  
  
Everett wasn’t in the mood to mince words and he was more than fed up with the prisoners cooling their heels in his hold.  “The next viable planet we stop at, you're all gonna be left there. I expect co-operation until such time or appropriate force will be used to maintain order.”

 

Realizing it was useless to argue, Varro turned on his heel and stalked from the room.  Young ignored the glower Camille shot his way and sighed. No sooner than the doors had closed, there was another knock.  He slapped his hand against the door control and stifled a groan. 

 

David stood stiffly, eyeing his former friend and colleague.  “I used the communication stones.”  


Everett smiled coldly.  “OK. Just skip over the fact that I didn't authorize that.”  
  
“I have a shortlist,” David said, withdrawing a piece of folded paper from his jacket.  “Based on intel provided by both myself and Camille Wray, you're being ordered to keep a select number of Lucian Alliance on board who may prove valuable.”

 

Young took the list from Telford’s outstretched hand and looked at it briefly before handing it back.  “And if I don't, I assume you're going to tell me that you've been ordered to relieve me of my command.”  David looked away guiltily and gave Everett all the answer he needed.  “D'you think you've earned the trust of the men and women on this ship enough for them to follow you?”

 

Telford tucked the list back into his pocket before answering.  “Military personnel are still in the service of Stargate Command and expected to follow orders.”  


Before Young could respond, Destiny dropped out of FTL.  Young walked over to his desk and retrieved his radio, activating it as he left the room and began walking down the corridor.  “Rush, this is Young. Where are you?” he barked into the device.  
  
Telford dogged his heels, following him to the control room where they find Brody working alone.  “It's less than three hours. The address of the planet came up but it's still locked out. The strange thing is that there are no other planets in range – nothing,” the engineer said with a shake of his head.  
  
David stared at him, bewildered.  “Then why did we drop out?”  
  
“Exactly. It doesn't make sense.”  
  
Young tapped his fingers impatiently against the console.  “Suggestions?”  
  
“We could try to bypass the lockout, dial anyway. It's a long shot,” Brody shrugged.  
  
“It's all we got.”  Young activated his radio once more.  “Rush, we're headed to the gate room,” he said, expecting the man to report at once.  But when did Nicholas Rush ever do what the colonel expected?

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Dusk was slowly giving way to night as Scott trotted down the ridge to join the others who had taken shelter behind an outcropping of rocks a short distance from the buried gate.  He dropped down to take cover with them as he flicked up the cover on a detonator.  It was their one chance to clear away the debris in the hopes of dialing home.  
  
Eli’s voice trembled, clearly revealing how nervous he was about their latest hair-brained scheme.  “You know, I think I remember reading somewhere that a big enough explosion close enough to a Stargate can … can detonate the super-conductive material that it's made of. The resulting explosion can take a chunk out of a  _planet_!”  
  
“Well, it's not gonna … it's not gonna be  _that_  big,” Volker said, glancing towards Scott.

 

“You sure?” Eli asked.  
  
Scott looked at them, his gaze swinging back and forth as their fears started to get to him too.  “I … we don't have much of a choice, do we? It could take weeks to dig this thing out.”  
  
Eli grimaced.  “Hopefully the blast won't damage the Gate.”  
  
“D'you want me to flip the switch or not?” Scott replied, exasperated with the two of them.  “If we can’t get the gate to work, we’re going to be stranded here and Riley is gonna die.”

 

Eli looked to the others for help, but they remained silent.  Finally he turned back to Scott and nodded.  “Yeah, yeah, I'm sure, flip the switch.”  


“I'm flippin' the switch!”  
  
“Flip it, already!” Eli grumbled, hunkering down and covering his ears.  


“Fire in the hole!” the lieutenant cried and flipped the switch on the detonator.  Dust and debris rained down for several moments.  Eli let it settle a bit before he peered out over the top of their cover.  
  
He smirked at Scott.  “That was pretty big!”

 

X*X*X*X*X

  
Nicholas finally arrived in the gate room to find the Ancient device already spinning.  Young glared at him in irritation.  “Where the hell have you been?”

 

“Engine Control Room,” Rush answered, ignoring the colonel for the moment and checking the stats on the console screen.  He was anxious for the gate to open so he could get to Belle.

 

“Doing what?”  
  
“Well, the FTL drive is still suffering some effects from the pulsar radiation, stopping at shorter intervals now, regardless of whether we're in range of a planet or not,” he said, satisfied with the explanation he’d devised as to a reason for their unexpected stop.  


The colonel stared at him suspiciously, debating whether or not to believe him.  Nicholas held his gaze for an inordinately long moment before turning back to the spinning gate.  He had more pressing matters to attend to now and couldn’t be bothered with the man.   


He hurried into the storage room where the military housed their gear and grabbed a flak jacket, quickly pulling it on and returning to the gate room.  He was running up the ramp as soon as the event horizon settled into its rippling puddle.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Eli and Volker slumped wearily to the side as the remainder of the team continued to clear away large bits of rock from the gate.  The explosion had succeeded in removing most of the obstacle, but there were still large chunks that made it impassable.  They’d been at it for hours and exhaustion and fatigue weighed heavily on them.  Eli was longing for a shower and his bed, but had to settle for a break before returning to his duty.

 

“Five minutes, you two,” Greer grumbled in their direction.  Too many sugary snacks and years behind a computer had made the scientists soft.  They hadn’t been trained like the military personnel on Destiny and Greer couldn’t fault them for needing a break.  He, however, wouldn’t be stopping until the obstacle was cleared.  Too many lives depended on finding a way home to the Ancient ship.

 

“D'you feel that?” Scott asked, turning to look at Greer as sweat beaded his brow and slowly trickled over his face from his exertions.

 

The trembling became more violent and Greer pointed at Volker and Eli as they rushed to stand.  “Hey, science guys.  This thing is shakin’.”  
  
“It's trying to dial in!” Eli exclaimed, reaching for the Kino remote in his jacket pocket.  
  
“Clear the event horizon!” Volker called out to the team.  He hurried forward to help the team haul the last few rocks out from the ground inside the circle of the gate.

 

“The address is here!  We’ve got Destiny,” Eli laughed, barely able to contain his excitement.  The shaking stopped as they moved off the ramp.  “Everyone back away!  I’m gonna try to dial them.”  Eli worked his magic on the remote and the chevrons lit up, the gate beginning to spin.  He laughed again, this time in triumph.  “It’s working!  It’s working!”  


X*X*X*X*X

  
Rush barreled through the gate as soon as the puddle had settled, nearly running into Scott as he emerged on the other side.  “Belle … shuttle … where?” he panted, his heart racing.

 

“Rush –“

 

“Where are they, Lieutenant!?” he snarled, in no mood for commentary on their sojourn on the planet.  He needed to see for himself that Belle was alright.

 

Vanessa could see the turmoil on the doctor’s face and pointed in the direction of the crashed shuttle.  “Three kliks that way, Dr. Rush.”

 

He didn’t wait around to hear more than that, taking off at a loping run.  Scott quickly ushered the team through the gate.  They all had their assigned task to set their plan to save Riley into motion.  Young detained his first lieutenant, wanting a status report.  Scott explained, watching the color drain from his commander’s face.

 

They made their way to the communication’s lab, rounding up two civilians to be ready to switch with any doctors they were able to find.  They wouldn’t be able to free Riley from his imprisonment beneath the panel until the surgeons were ready to perform.  Time was of the essence.  Everett went first, explaining to HWC what he needed and was back as quickly as he could manage.  It was still another hour before they were ready.

 

Greer and Eli were waiting at the gate with the Kino sled and a backboard, ready to transport their crewmate back to the ship.  Everett just hoped they wouldn’t be too late.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

“Belle!”

 

She was leaning tiredly against the panel trapping Riley, his hand clasped in hers as she talked softly to him, her stories about what they’d already achieved on Destiny working to keep him alert and awake.  She looked up, her face transforming into a mask of relief as Nicholas ran through the open bay doors, his eyes searching the gloom frantically for a sign of her.

 

“Nicholas!” she cried, rising to her feet to be enveloped in his comforting embrace.

 

He hugged her tightly, burying his face in her hair for a moment before he pulled back to cradle her face in his warm palms.  He pressed a kiss to her lips, his heart still hammering against his ribs.  “I was so worried, _mo chroí_ ,” he whispered.  “Are you really alright?”

 

Belle smoothed her hands along his chest and leaned into him, drawing on his strength.  “I’m fine.  I got a little bump on the head, but I’m ok.”

 

“Dr. Rush,” TJ said, drawing his attention to her.  “Are they sending help?”

 

“I’m sure they are, Lieutenant,” he replied.  “I didn’t wait to find out.  I needed to see that you all were ok for myself.”

 

TJ and Belle shared a smile.  They both knew he needed to see that _Belle_ was alright first.  She and Destiny were his main priorities and the medic knew nothing came before them.

 

They didn’t have to wait long for the recovery team to show.  Eli carried in the backboard, followed by Greer, Scott, Rennie and the colonel. 

 

Belle slipped out of Rush’s arms and once again knelt next to Riley.  “See?  I told you everything would be fine,” she murmured soothingly, brushing a lock of his dark red hair away from his brow.

 

TJ laid the backboard on the floor next to him, ready to move him as soon as the panel had been lifted.  It didn’t take but a moment for Belle and TJ to secure the belts around Riley’s thighs above the knees and fasten them to slow blood flow.  Rennie, Dunning and Eli took one side and Scott, Greer and Everett took the other, their combined strength making it easy to remove the heavy panel.  Riley wailed in agony as the blood rushed to the wound, his cries filling the cramped space.  Nicholas, Belle, and Park helped to roll him to the right so TJ could shove the board under him and in moments they had him secured.  The men lifted him quickly and bore him out of the shuttle, placing him on the Kino sled and running with it towards the gate.

 

TJ and Everett followed after them, Belle and Rush bringing up the rear.  Camille had already sent a foraging party out onto the planet for much needed supplies.  They had ten hours on the clock and saw no reason not to take advantage.

 

Belle, wrapped up in a blanket and curled on Rush’s lap, slept soundly outside the infirmary where they waited during Riley’s surgery.  TJ had gone in to assist and was the first one out when it was all over several hours later.  Rush woke Belle so she could hear the news as well.

 

Everett pushed off of the wall where he’d been leaning and looked at her hopefully.  “How is he, Tamara?”

 

“He’s going to be ok … eventually.  It’s going to be a long road of recovery.  Both legs are broken due to the panel crushing them.  There was extensive damage to muscle, veins had to be stitched to restore blood flow to his lower legs and feet.  He’s very lucky,” she said, wiping her forearm over her damp brow.  “His right leg caught the worst of it and there’s a possibility it might not heal properly.  He might end up having to use a cane for the rest of his life, but at least he’s alive and will recover.”

 

Everett looped an arm about her waist and let her rest her head against his shoulder.  “Well, thankfully, Dr. French is quick on her feet.”  He looked at Belle who was blushing furiously.  “Scott told me we have you to thank for saving Sergeant Riley’s life.”

 

Belle ducked her head.  “I … um … it was just the easiest solution.  I guess everyone was just shocked over the crash and … someone would have eventually thought of it, I’m sure.”

 

Nicholas pulled her closer and pressed a kiss to her brow.  “You’re just being modest,” he teased.  He turned to Everett.  “Have you made a final decision about the Lucian prisoners?” he asked, changing the subject to take the focus off of Belle.  She still had problems being cast in the spotlight.

 

Young sighed.  “They’ll be dealt with soon.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Varro walked over to Camille and Telford as they were escorted into the holding cell by armed guards.  Telford removed the shortlist from his pocket, unfolded it and handed it to the Lucian lieutenant.  Varro read the list and then nodded unhappily.

 

The Alliance crew who weren’t lucky enough to be on the list were marched through the open stargate, leaving them to fend for themselves on the planet.  It was viable and could sustain life, but it would be a struggle to survive.  Everett didn’t feel the slightest twinge of pity for them after what they’d tried to do to his ‘family’.  The only members allowed to remain were Varro, Ginn, Koz, Simeon and five others.  The SGC and IOA hoped they had some knowledge of the Alliance’s movements on Earth and would be useful.  Camille was the only one on board who felt the same.  Everett hoped they enjoyed their time in the hold, because the safety of his people was priority one and he wouldn’t subject them to the Lucians presence on board.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

Nicholas paced outside the showers in their section of the ship, waiting for Belle to finish her nightly ablutions.  He hadn’t joined her, afraid if he did, he’d spill his secrets before he could actually show her.  She emerged wearing her softest pair of cotton pajama shorts and his white button down.  His gaze traveled appreciatively over her petite form and he had to quell the desire to carry her off to their quarters and lose himself in her.  Instead of doing as he wished, he steered her towards the corridor that would lead to the elevator.

 

“Nicholas,” she yawned.  “Where are we going?  I just want to sleep.”  She nestled into his embrace and rested her head against his shoulder as the elevator doors closed and the lift began to rise.

 

“I need to show you something.”

 

“Can’t it wait until morning?”

 

He shook his head and smiled.  “No, you’re going to want to see this.”  He led her down a short corridor and stopped before the ornately designed wall with its combination keypad lock.

 

“You brought me up here to look at a wall?  Nicholas,” she sighed, admonishing him lightly.  “Have you any idea how tired I am?  I’m not part cyborg like you, darling.”

 

Rush entered the sequence on the keypad and watched Belle’s eyes widen as the wall sank into the floor to reveal the door hidden behind it.  He took her hand in his and led her into the room, her lips parted with wonder.  “Welcome to the bridge, my Belle,” he murmured softly, pressing a kiss to her lips before releasing her and gesturing to the room.

 

She was too stunned to say anything, adrenaline coursing through her veins as she moved from one station to the next in wonder, trying to take it all in.  Finally she came to stand before the captain’s chair, her eyes trained on the wall of windows, watching as Destiny traveled through deep space, the pink and blue FTL lights winking.  “Your program worked.  Oh gods, Nicholas, just think what this will mean for the mission.  Have you told the colonel?”

 

“I’ve told no one but you,” he said, giving her a pointed look.

 

“Nicholas,” she sighed, running a hand through her damp hair.  “You can’t keep something like this from Everett.  I know you don’t trust him, but this is too big to hide.”

 

He moved to her side and wrapped his arms about her waist, pulling her against his chest as he reveled in her warm weight pressing so delightfully against his body.  “I just can’t, Belle … not yet.  He’s unstable and –“

 

“You’re afraid he’ll take this away from you.  Nicholas, he won’t,” she tried to reassure him.

 

“The crew is not equipped to handle the bridge.”

 

“And they never will be unless you show them how,” she insisted.

 

He ducked his head, his hair falling over his brow as his gaze slid away from hers.  “I know, but I just need more time.  Once I get a handle on all the different systems now available to us, I promise, Belle … I promise I’ll come forward and tell him.”

 

“And in the meantime, I suppose I’m to keep quiet about this?” she asked, knowing him all too well and how his mind worked.  She sighed wearily and rested her head against his chest.  “Why do you have to be so difficult?”

 

“It’s one of the things you love about me,” he quipped, smiling down at her.

 

“I’m going on the record and stating that I do not approve this plan of yours.”

 

“Duly noted, _mo ghra_.”  He stroked his hand over her hair, amused with her propensity to make things clear between them.  It was one of the things he loved about _her_.  His guilty conscience, however, wouldn’t allow him to keep his mistakes to himself.  “Belle … it’s my fault the shuttle crashed,” he said, his voice small.  It wasn’t a tone she was used to hearing from him.

 

She pushed him down in the captain’s chair and climbed onto his lap, her exhaustion making it difficult to remain on her feet.  “I don’t believe that.  It was an accident, Nicholas.”

 

He closed his eyes, not wanting to see condemnation in her eyes once he told her.  “It wasn’t an accident, Belle.  I made Destiny drop out of FTL.  We needed supplies and I thought the shuttle could handle the short trip down to the planet.  I didn’t take into account that Destiny had good reason for locking us out and I put you all in danger.”

 

Her hand came up to cradle his cheek, his whiskers rubbing delightfully against her palm.  “This is why you need a crew, Nicholas.  But I’m not going to allow you to blame yourself.”

 

Rush opened his eyes to meet her patient stare.  For the umpteenth time, he thanked the gods for sending her to him, though he felt he was undeserving of her love.  “All of this is my fault. I was trying to  _save_  lives … _all_  of our lives, not just my own. This database just confirms what I knew all along …” He paused to catch his breath, his convictions ringing loudly in their ears.  “…that this ship was named Destiny for a reason.

 

“We’ll make this work, Nicholas.  I’ll help you, I promise,” she said, nestling her face against his neck, her voice sleepy.

 

He checked a setting on the console next to him and then leaned his head back against the headrest of the chair, closing his eyes as his own exhaustion swept over him.  He would be content to simply hold her on his lap indefinitely.  She believed in him like no other ever had, but it still left him astounded that she didn’t believe the crash to be his fault.  He wondered if he would ever understand her unwavering faith in him.

 

His eyes cracked open slightly as the console beeped.  His brows furrowed as he looked at the readout.  Seconds later, Destiny exited FTL and entered normal space.  “Belle, waken up.  We need to get to the observation deck.”

 

In the Control Interface Room, Brody looked across to Volker. “Well, must be like Rush said. Another short jump because of the radiation effect.”

 

Dale raised his finger as his console beeped.  “Something just came up on the sensors.”  
  
Brody’s radio crackled to life.  “This is Rush. Meet me on the Observation Deck.”

 

Young, having heard the radio transmission made his way there as well, Eli trailing behind him.  They walked into the room. Nicholas, Belle, Brody and Volker already standing at the front railing.  
  
”What's going on?” the colonel asked, joining them before the wall of windows.  
  
Volker pointed out the window.  “There's an object out there. It's just coming into range.”  
  
“What is it?”  
  
Belle stifled a yawn and let her body sag against Rush, thankful for his support.  “We're not sure, but we're about to find out.”  
  
They gazed out of the window, intrigued by the object as Destiny drew closer, Nicholas’s gaze especially intent.  “We’re headed straight for it.”  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I really hope you all enjoyed this chapter, because it was definitely a struggle for me to write. I think my biggest conflict was deciding whether or not to have Riley live or die. It was a choice of having him die and have chapters and chapters of angst where Belle and Rush were suffering with both of them blaming Rush for the shuttle crash and Riley’s death, or having Riley live and Belle be excited about the discovery of the bridge and letting them remain happy together. When I put the choices to my friends in our FB group they said nix the angst and let the poor boy live. So thank you all who encouraged me on that path. I look forward to hearing what you think. Thanks so much for your continued support of this story. You don’t know how much it means to me :D


	23. Awakening

 

        Nicholas leaned his hands on the railing on either side of Belle, his chin resting on her shoulder as he watched the object in the window grow larger with each passing second.  Young shifted uncomfortably to his right as Eli squinted his sharp brown eyes to try to make it out.  Belle leaned back against Rush, feeling some of her weariness dissipate in the face of a new challenge.

        Camille hurried onto the observation deck, having seen the object through the porthole in her quarters.  “Do we know what it is?” she asked no one in particular as she joined them at the window.

        “Not yet,” Eli answered.

        Young activated his radio when neither Belle nor Rush were forthcoming with the answers he sought.  “Brody.”

        Brody didn’t hesitate to reply from his position in the control interface room.  “Colonel.”

        “Ready weapons.”

        Rush frowned.  “I don’t think that’ll be necessary.”

        “The object is stationary.  Are you simply going to destroy it before you have a change to find out what it is, Everett?” Belle asked, exasperated with Young’s tendency to shoot first and then sort through the remains.  “This is a scientific mission, and –“

        Rush gave her hip a gentle squeeze, cutting her off and nodding towards the object in space.  “It’s a ship,” she said, her eyes narrowing as she took in the flat surface with its raised dome-like center.

        “It looks like Destiny,” Eli added.  “It’s gotta be of Ancient design.”

        “Colonel, this is Brody,” Adam chirped over the radio.  “We’re not slowing down.  We’re on a collision course.

        Belle dug in the pocket of her flak jacket and retrieved her tablet as it beeped.  “He’s right, but I don’t think it will be long before the thrusters kick in,” she said, a small smirk curling her lips.

        Young shook his head, not wanting to take the chance.  “Ready main weapon,” he ordered.

        Brody entered the commands and the double barreled colossus lowered from the hull, aimed at the alien ship.  Several of the crew members backed away from the railing nervously as the threat grew closer to Destiny.

        Eli’s eyes grew round as saucers.  “We’re gonna hit it!”

        Rush shook his head.  “No, Belle’s right,” he said as the thrusters engaged, gently rocking the ship.  “We’re going to dock with it.”

        “Destiny is slowing, docking clamps engaged,” Belle said, the fingers of her right hand flipping through multiple screens as she monitored the ship’s progress on the tablet.  There was hardly a jolt, the ships aligning smoothly.

        The colonel leaned onto the railing again and glanced over at the lead scientist.  “You got any more predictions?”

        “Yeah,” Rush snorted.  “I suspect that very shortly, you’ll be assembling a team to send over there.”  Tossing a sarcastic look at Everett, he took Belle’s hand in his and strolled off of the observation deck, heading for the control room where he could coordinate with his team.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

        “I swear she’s like a machine,” Lisa murmured in an aside to Eli as they huddled behind their shared console and watched Belle.  Dr. French stood before the holo-screen, her tablet in hand, slowly translating the information being downloaded from the seed ship.  “How does she do it? I mean it’s in Ancient.  I might be able to understand if it were in English.”

        Eli shook his head.  “I thought she was fast on a console, but Belle with that tablet …”

        He let his words trail off into the ether as Rush cast them both his best death glare.  “Mr. Wallace, if you don’t have enough work to do –“

        The boy squeaked in alarm.  “Nah, I’m good!”

        Young crossed his arms over his chest, tapping his foot impatiently as he stared at the holo-screen.  “How did you know we were gonna dock?” he asked, his question addressed to Rush.

        “Call it a hunch.”  Young and Eli shared a dubious look, but Rush kept his eyes trained on his notebook as he entered another command onto the console.  “Given the second ship’s similarity in design, our calculated approach … well, I thought it was rather obvious, really.”

        “Nicholas,” Belle admonished, “not everyone thinks as quickly as you do.” Her gaze flitted over to the colonel.  “No offense, Everett.”

        Young stepped closer to Belle, his brow furrowing as his gaze swung between the holo-screen and the tablet in her hands.  “So, what’s happening here?”

        Belle glanced up at him before returning to her work.  “Destiny is exchanging data with the seed ship.”

        Brody leaned on his console, his eyes narrowed on the holo-screen for a moment.  “One of many traveling well ahead of Destiny, seeding planets with Stargates, gathering information.  This one obviously experienced some sort of system failure, allowing us to catch up with it.”

        “What kind of data?” Young asked, trying to follow information clearly out of his league.

        Rush shrugged.  “Difficult to say at the moment.  It may take a while to translate.”

        “Well, then, you’d better get started.”

        “There’s plenty of time for that later,” Rush said, rising from his seat behind the main console.  “For now, this is a fantastic opportunity, and I want to explore.”

        “I’m sure you do,” Everett huffed.  “But I need you here.  I need to know what kind of information we’re receiving.”

        Belle frowned at him.  “I’ve got this, Colonel.”

        “Then it will go that much quicker if Rush is here to help you.”  Rush glared at him angrily, which he chose to ignore as he looked up at the wall clock.  “No countdown.”

        “Yeah, I figure Destiny’s going to give us as long as it takes,” Volker volunteered.

        “And how long is that?” Young demanded.

        Eli flipped through several screens before looking up at the Colonel.  “Given the amount of data and the rate of transfer, I’d guess at least two hours.”

        “Ok, Brody, Volker, you’re on the away team.  You have two hours.  Make it quick,” Young declared, shoving his hands in his pockets as he made his way to the door.

        “With all due respect to Brody and Volker,” Nicholas snapped. “I-“

        “They’ll be fine,” Everett grinned.  “Call it a hunch.”

        Rush nodded bitterly, his teeth gnashing so hard his jaw hurt as he glowered down at his screen.  Belle held her tongue, refusing to discuss this in mixed company to give them fodder for the gossip mill which ran rampant on the Ancient ship.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

        Nicholas frowned down at the Kino footage in one corner of his screen as he tried to concentrate on his work.  It should be _him_ on the seed ship, exploring and cataloguing the new data it would offer.  _Not_ that idiot Volker and their head engineer.  _Fucking Young!_   He was doing this just because he could, and it did nothing but piss him off.

        “It’s incredible!” Eli gushed, grinning over at Rush who gave him a blank stare.  “Ok, maybe not as incredible as checking out a seed ship, but still pretty damned incredible!”  He chanced a glance over at Lisa who stood at his side by his console, happy to see she was a bit more excited.  “There’s no telling what kind of information we’re getting here.  It could be _anything_ from Ancient history to details of Destiny’s mission.”

        Rush’s brows drew together low over his eyes as his gaze settled on Belle.  Her clear cerulean eyes were fixed on the screen as her fingers flew over the controls on her tablet, almost as if she were in a trance.  He’d watched her work at the console many times over the past months, but he’d never seen her lose herself in her work as she did now.  He edged away from his console, approaching her slowly, even his presence at her side didn’t sway her from her task.

        “Belle?” he whispered, not wanting to draw attention from the others as they continued to monitor the away team’s progress through the Kino.  “Belle, _mo stór_?”  When she still didn’t answer, he laid a hand over the one on the tablet.

        Her gaze immediately broke contact with the holo-screen and swung to him.  “Nicholas?”

        A suspicious gleam glinted in his dark eyes, but he held his tongue, refusing to discuss anything of a personal nature in mixed company.  “Come with me,” he commanded softly, taking the tablet from her and twining his fingers with hers.

        “Where are you going?” Young barked as Nicholas dragged Belle behind him towards the door.

        “We’re going for tea … is that alright?” he growled tetchily.  He didn’t care if he had permission or not.  “The team is on the seed ship and Eli has everything well in hand.  Deal with it.”

        Belle pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes, her head swimming with numbers and symbols, a myriad mixture of Ancient and English as she trusted Rush to guide her down the corridor.  He led her over to one of the tables to sit down as he went off to ask Becker for two cups of tea, or Destiny’s version of the brew at least.  It didn’t take him long to return and she clasped her cup between her numb fingers, savoring the warmth if not the taste.

        Nicholas set the tablet on the table between them, the black screen facing upwards.  “You want to tell me what that was about back there, Belle?”

        _“I don’t know what you mean.  I was just working on the translations,”_ she said calmly, her brow furrowed.  She couldn’t fathom why he was looking at her with such a worried expression.

        _”And I suppose you don’t realize that you’re speaking in Ancient, either?”_ he replied.

        She huffed a small laugh, the smile on her lips in no way meeting the anxiety in her eyes.  “What … no,” she switched to English.  “It was probably because I’ve been staring at it for so long.”

        “You’re sure?” he queried skeptically.  “Because I’ve _never_ seen you so focused on a task before, Belle.  You weren’t even looking at the keyboard!”

        Belle shrugged, blowing off his worry.  “It’s nothing, Nicholas.  The keyboard on the tablet is similar to the one on the console, and you know how fluent I am with the console.  It’s nothing to be concerned about.”

        He covered one of her hands with his, squeezing gently as he propped his chin in the other, studying her intently.  “You’re tired.  Why don’t you rest for a while? Hmm?”

        She shook her head.  “No … No, I’ll work with you until we’re done.”

        “Stubborn.”

        “Hello, pot, meet kettle,” she snarked.

        He rose from the bench and dropped a kiss to her brow.  _“I’m going up to the bridge for a few minutes.  Cover for me?”_ he asked, switching to Ancient once more.  Luckily, those few who understood the dialect were either in the control room or on the seed ship.

        _“Be careful.”_

_“Always.”_

X*X*X*X*X

 

        Chloe fidgeted uneasily as she made her way to the infirmary only to find TJ not at her post.  Not that she wanted to visit the medic in the first place, but she needed some reassurances from the only medical staff aboard Destiny before she lost her mind completely.  The constant worries were slowly wearing her down.  She tried the mess, the quarters she shared with the colonel and then finally the observation deck where Tamara was standing at the railing with baby Claire as some of the crew took turns fawning over the infant.

        Corporal Barnes lounged on one of the sofas, never far from the baby now that she’d officially been appointed nanny when TJ was busy with her duties.  Chloe nodded amiably as she greeted the blonde.  “Hey, TJ, there you are!”  She took a moment to coo softly at baby Claire.  “Hello, little sweet.”

        TJ’s mouth twisted in a grimace.  “Oh, God!  I was supposed to meet you in the infirmary, wasn’t I?  Chloe, I’m so sorry … I simply forgot.”

        “No worries.  I know you’re still getting used to juggling work and being a full time mom.”  She grinned at her friend.  “Mind if I hold her?”

        “Sure,” TJ said, carefully placing her daughter in the girl’s arms.  “Come on, let’s go to the infirmary and I’ll take a look at your leg wound.”

        Chloe bit her lip, focusing on the little bundle in her arms.  Claire was a bright spot of hope for the entire crew, their first aboard the Ancient ship.  They needed her as much as she would come to need all of them as she grew.  She glanced up at TJ.  “There _is_ no leg wound,” she said worriedly.  “That’s what I was coming by to tell you.  It’s almost completely healed.”

        TJ glanced at her, taken aback.  “How is that possible?”

        Chloe shrugged as she handed the baby to Annie who’d accompanied them and climbed up on the exam table.  “I don’t know.  I was hoping you could tell me.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

        Brody followed the Kino as it preceded the team through the dank corridors of the seed ship, wrapping his hand more securely around his pack as a shiver skittered up his spine.  “We could cover a lot more ground if we split up,” he said, trying to keep the tremor out of his voice.  He didn’t want his fellows to think he was intimidated by the derelict ship.

        Scott gave him a dubious look.  “You heard the colonel.  Proceed with caution.  We are _not_ splitting up.”

        “Fine.  Let’s at least turn the Kino on search mode,” the engineer suggested.

        The lieutenant nodded.  “Yeah.  Knock yourself out,” he grumbled.  He’d much rather have stayed aboard Destiny than spent his evening searching an abandoned vessel.

        Volker typed the command into the remote and followed.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

        Belle glowered at Camille over her shoulder as the woman came into the control room in search of Young.  Her nerves were frayed, worried over Rush and his secretiveness, and she was more than a little overworked.  In no way was she equipped to deal with the IOA rep and her whining.  “Eli, continue with the stream, would you?  And Lisa, you can begin working on processing the translations into the data base.”

        “Where’re you going?” the boy asked.

        “I need to take a walk,” she said icily, passing Camille without a word.  She made sure she wasn’t followed as she stepped onto the lift and carefully made her way to the bridge.  Thankfully, no one really felt the need to hang out on the uppermost level of the ship.  Nicholas’s head jerked up in alarm as she sealed the door behind her.

        “Belle!”

        “Sorry,” she said, dropping down into the chair in front of one of the many consoles.  “I couldn’t remain in control once Camille showed up.”

        He took a deep breath and studied her over the top of his notebook.  “You’re tired, _mo ghra_.  You should rest,” he said distractedly.  Despite his concentration, her well-being was always there at the back of his mind.

        Belle chuckled as she leaned her head back against her chair and rested her hands in her lap.  “Ok, you come with me and I will.  Then we can both lie there staring at the ceiling obsessing over the work we need to be doing.”

        “Too true,” he agreed.

        “So what’ve you been doing up here?”

        Rush sat back in his chair and cast her a rare smile he usually reserved just for her.  “We may have a way of getting home.”  
        Belle’s smile slipped away, not at all happy with this new development.  “What?  It’s because of the seed ship, isn’t it?”

        “Aye, love.”

        “And you’re not going to tell them, are you, Nicholas?” she asked, relaxing once again.  She knew without a doubt that he wanted to return to Earth about as much as she did … which she didn’t.

        He regarded her steadily.  “Well, I’m sure they’ll figure it out on their own.

        Belle’s lips twitched up into a half smile.  “Eventually.”  
        Rush tossed his notebook down on the console and weighed his options, grateful he at least had one person on his side.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

        “Keep me updated,” Young squawked into the radio as Belle followed Rush into the control room.  “Where the hell were you two?”

        “We stopped by the mess, Everett,” she said wearily.  “Low blood sugar is not conducive to work and it’s not like I can just pop on out to the pick-n-save for a new bag of Jolly Ranchers, now can I?”

        “Well, you’re in a good mood,” the colonel grumbled irritably.  She wasn’t the only one running low on sleep, lack of food and all around ill humor.  They were all suffering.  He scowled at Rush as the scientist took up his position behind his console.  “I tried radioing you.”

        “Yeah, I know,” Rush said, otherwise ignoring him.  “Eli, what’ve you got for me?”  He was relatively pleased when Telford strolled into the room to distract Young.

        “The team’s found the control room on the seed ship, but otherwise it’s been rather routine,” Eli answered with a huge yawn.

        Young followed David out of the room when he asked to speak privately, figuring the deserted corridor was as good a place as any.  “What can I do for you?”

        “You sent a team over?”

        “Yeah.”

        “Without bothering to run it by me?” Telford asked, somewhat surprised.  He was no longer a prisoner, after all, and he’d been cleared for active duty once more.  Though, he knew Everett no longer trusted him.

        Everett bristled.  “The last time I checked, I was the commanding officer of this ship.”

        “I’m not disputing that.”

        “Meaning I don’t have to run anything by you, or anyone else for that matter.”

        Telford held up a hand to soothe his friend’s ruffled feathers.  “Look, I don’t have a problem with sending a team over.  I’d just appreciate begin kept in the loop,” he said in a cajoling tone.  “Let me help.”

        Young crossed his arms stubbornly over his chest.  “I don’t _need_ your help.” He turned back towards the control interface room as David rolled his eyes, reaching out and putting a restraining hand on his arm.

        “Like hell you don’t.”

        “David …”

        “Damnit, Everett.”  He lowered his voice perceptibly so the science team wouldn’t overhear their argument.  “You’ve been going this alone since the incursion and it’s been taking a toll.  And how much slept have you had worrying about TJ and the baby?  When are you going to realize this isn’t just about you?  You have a responsibility to people onboard this ship and lately you haven’t been up to the task.  Now, either shape up or step back.”  He clasped Everett’s shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze of brotherly support.  “You’re tired; I get it.  Let me help.”

        Young snorted, laughing ruefully.  “You’re a persistent son of a bitch.  Fine.  Ok, they’ve found what looks to be the ship’s control center and they’re bringing systems online.  The game plan is just to get as much information as we can before our time runs out.”

        Rush sent a dark knowing look at Belle as the two colonels returned to the room, having heard everything which had passed between them.  She did all she could not to let out a low groan.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

        “Why are you shutting Nicholas out, Everett?” Belle asked, falling into step beside the colonel as he hurried down the corridor.  “Especially after he played a part in saving your life.”

        Young looked down at the petite brunette and groaned inwardly.  “He also played a part in the Lucians gaining access to Destiny in the first place.”

        “So did you.  You are not putting this all off on him!” she hissed angrily.  “But you cannot continue to hold a grudge against him.  Why won’t you allow him onto the seed ship?”

        The colonel didn’t slow his steps.  If anything, he quickened his pace, hoping Belle would see he was in no mood for her questions.  “I need him here.”

        “Bullshit!  You have me and Eli – as well as the rest of the science team – here on board, and you know we’re not going to let anything slip past us.  Rush could be of better use on the seed ship.”  
        “I’m not changing my mind, Dr. French.” He smirked down at her, taking note of the way she bristled, knowing she wanted to argue further.  “Now, don’t you need to be in the control room to monitor the data transfer?”

        Belle regarded him through narrowed eyes as she held up the tablet before her.  “No, I can be anywhere on the ship and monitor it through this.  It’s comparable to a portable console.  Brody’s been helping me reconfigure a few things to get the rest of them ready for the crew to use.”

        He stopped before the door to the holding area where the Lucian prisoners were kept.  “Did you need something else?” he asked, arching a brow at her as the guard slapped his hand against the door mechanism, allowing it to slide open.

        Ginn immediately rushed forward excitedly, unafraid of the colonel.  “Colonel, I hear we’ve docked with a seed ship,” she said, smiling tentatively at Belle who followed him into the room.

        “What of it?” he asked, his dark eyes cold as he stared down at the ginger haired prisoner.  
        She stood stiffly, raising her chin obstinately.  “I’d like to offer my help.  I have some understanding of Ancient technology –“

        “No, thank you,” Everett sneered.

        “But I can be of some assistance.”

        “I said no,” he snarled.  “I’m not letting you or your people anywhere _near_ that ship.”

        “ _What assistance do you believe you could offer us, Ginn_?” Belle asked, slipping into Ancient to see if the girl could understand. 

        She ignored the piercing look Everett cast her, but she couldn’t ignore the anger in his tone as he asked, “What did you say to her?”

        “You really need to study that primer I gave you, dearie,” she said with a shake of her head.  “Give us a moment, would you?”

        “Dr. French –“

        Varro took the opportunity to interrupt.  “Colonel, I want to know how long you plan on keeping us locked up.”

        Belle led Ginn away, leaving Young with no choice but to speak with the Lucian lieutenant.  They took a seat on one of the empty ancient crates which littered the room.  The redhead glanced at her anxiously.  “ _I do know a bit of the Ancient tongue_ ,” she said, her voice barely more than a whisper as she answered Belle’s earlier question.

        “Can you read it as well?  How many of the others have the same ability to speak and read Ancient?” Belle asked curiously, her nails tapping idly against the tablet she rested against her left thigh.

        Ginn looked down at the twisted fingers resting on her lap.  “Koz … we trained together.”

        Belle watched the girl closely, searching for any sign of deceit.  “And you think Everett would allow you anywhere near Destiny’s systems?” she chuckled softly.  “Not a chance, my dear.  Nor will my Nicholas.  Neither is what you would call trusting.”  
        “Spilling all of our secrets, Ginn?” Simeon sneered, his hand snaking out to snatch the tablet from Belle’s loose grip.

        Before he could touch it, Belle had him on the floor, her knee pressed to his sternum and his right arm bent at an odd angle.  She shook her head at the airman who rushed forward, his rifle pointed at the Lucian’s head.  A dark smile graced her lips as she leaned closer to the man, her voice soft.  “Don’t ever presume to touch me.”  Her eyes were intense shards of ice as they bored into his.  “You really think because of my size I’m incapable of taking care of myself?  Think again.”

        “Dr. French!” Young barked, striding purposefully to her side.  “Let him go.”

        Belle exerted a bit more pressure to her knee, making it extremely difficult for the Lucian to breathe.  “And don’t think the colonel has any influence over my actions, dearie,” she spat.  “Because he doesn’t.  Don’t test me.  Are we clear?”

        “Crystal,” he gasped, trying to force his chest to expand with a breath.

        Belle regained her feet and cast Everett a cold look before moving back to Ginn’s side.  “I’ll see what I can do to further this conversation later.”

        “Thank you,” Ginn said sincerely, impressed with the petite scientist.  Simeon was a cold-blooded killer, without fear or remorse.  It was one of the reasons Kiva had chosen him as one of her most elite.  She’d never seen anyone take him down like the sweet natured Dr. French had just done.

        Belle barely glanced at Young as she made her way to the door and disappeared from sight, leaving the colonel alone with his guards and the dozen or so Lucian prisoners.  He turned to follow her, but Varro wasn’t finished.

        “Colonel, we’ve been co-operative with your Homeworld Command, providing them with information on the Alliance as requested.”

        “You had no choice.  It was either that or get left behind on some godforsaken planet.”

        “We took down Dannic and gave you back control of this ship!” Varro insisted, his temper rising.

        “To save your own lives!”

        “Ours weren't the only ones at risk and, if you remember, I stepped in and prevented the execution of all military personnel aboard _Destiny_ , including you.”  
        Everett clasped his hands behind his back and continued to stare coldly at the Lucian lieutenant.  “For what it’s worth, thanks for that, but I’m still not quite ready to trust you.  You want out of here, you’re going to have to prove to me you’re not a threat to my people.”

        “And how do we do that?” Varro asked, feeling the first stirrings of hope he’d had in quite a while.

        Everett smiled bitterly.  “I don’t think you can.”  With that he left the man behind.  The Lucian’s had threatened his crew, his home, and his family.  He wouldn’t willingly give them a chance to do it again.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

        Nicholas didn’t look up from his console as Belle returned to the control room, focused on his work.  He couldn’t ignore the soft sweep of gentle fingers across his nape as easily.  He bit his tongue to stifle the low moan wishing to rumble up past his throat.  “ _Where’ve you been_?” he asked, easily slipping into Ancient.

        “ _I wanted to speak to Everett for a moment_.”

        He tossed his pencil onto the console as he shook off her hand and turned to look at her.  “ _On my behalf_ ,” he sneered, not even bothering to form it into a question.  He knew her too well by now.  “ _I don’t need you to fight my battles for me, Belle_.”

        She glanced over at Eli and Park whose rapt attention was focused upon them.  “ _I simply wanted to know why he refused to allow you onto the seed ship_ ,” she said defensively.  “ _He’s being unfair because he dislikes you, Nicholas_.”

        He turned back to the console, gnashing his teeth angrily.  “ _Yeah, well_ _… he_ is _in charge, isn’t he_?”

        Her fingers tapped against the tablet held in her clasped hands as she tilted her head to the side in contemplation.  “ _Speaking with Everett is frustrating at best._   _But I am rather interested in one of the Lucian prisoners_.”

        Belle winced as his dark eyes seared her with heat.  “ _Why is that? Especially when you’re not allowed anywhere near that holding area.”_

        “ _I was with Everett and that’s where he was heading, so_ –“

        “ _When he went there, you didn’t turn around and return here, but instead ventured inside.  Am I getting warm, mo stór?  You deliberately entered a restricted area and made yourself at home amongst a room full of trained killers_!”

        Belle’s eyes narrowed dangerously on him as she planted her hands stubbornly on her hips.  “ _There’s no talking to you when you get like this_.”

        “I really hate to interrupt what I’m sure is a fascinating argument – not that us peons are lucky enough to be privy to it – but I need another opinion.  Am I reading this right?” Eli asked, his eyes darting between the quarreling pair and the screen of his console where the live Kino footage from the seed ship and the scrolling data exchange scrolled by.  
        “If you have to ask, my guess would be a ‘no’,” Rush snarked, sneering over at the boy.

        Belle hadn’t taken her heated gaze off of Rush.  Eli turned to Lisa with a roll of his eyes.  “Seriously, check out these power readings.”

        She abandoned the panel she was studying and moved to have a look at his console.  “Oh my God!  Dr. Rush, you’d better check this out.”  


X*X*X*X*X

 

        Camille was serving her rotation in hydroponics when Young stalked in, his face reminiscent of a thundercloud.  “It was _you_ , wasn’t it?  You’re the one who told the prisoners about the seed ship,” he growled in an accusatory tone as he pointed a finger in her direction.  
        The IOA representative didn’t deign to look at him as she continued to water the plants.  “Any major developments aboard Destiny concern them as well.  They had a right to know.”

        “Dammit, Camille, they're prisoners. They don't  _have_  any rights.”  
        Camille turned off the sprayer and stared at him in disbelief.  “Oh, I can't believe what I'm hearing!”  
        “They attacked the ship. They threatened us,” he said, his voice rising as he shoved his hands deep into his pockets to keep himself from throttling the woman.  
        “And now we have to live with them.”  She moved over to one of the containment cases and checked on some new seedlings they’d planted.  
        “No, we don't,” Young continued to argue.  
        She turned away from her work to glare at him impatiently.  “We already got rid of most of them. There's only a handful left. Homeworld Command needs the intel they're providing, and in exchange for that information, they made a deal –“  
        “-- that Homeworld Command doesn't have to live with, but we _do_..”  He ground his teeth together.  It was never easy to have a conversation with the woman.  “I suppose it doesn’t matter how many of our crew we lost because of the incursion.  How many more are we going to have to lose before you take them as a threat?”

        “There were losses on both sides.  Because we have to live with them now, we should be showing them some respect.” She gentled her tone, trying to appeal to his softer side.  “You know, if you would just take the time to get to know them, you’d realize that many of them didn’t have a choice but to join the Alliance.  
        He was unfazed, thinking about what the Lucian’s presence could mean to TJ and their daughter.  “You know what? I don't care - and I'm gonna be damned if I risk the health and welfare of people aboard this ship on marching orders from the other side of the universe.”  
        “And what about the people back home?” she persisted.  “Are you willing to risk their lives instead? Because that's what's going to happen if you renege on this deal.” She sighed, her dark eyes pleading with him to see her stance.  “Homeworld Command has received confirmation that the Lucian Alliance is planning an attack on Earth, and it's quite possible that these prisoners have information that could help head off that attack.”  
        “Or they could be lying,” Everett countered.  
        “Yes, sure, they  _could_  be. But are you really willing to take that chance?”  She held his gaze, holding her ground at the fire blazing hotly in his eyes.  She lowered her voice, refusing to be the reason the argument escalated into something they would both later regret.  “Look, I understand these last few days have been hard on you - ”  
        Young held up a hand to silence her.  “Camille, do me a favor.  Just watch what you say to the prisoners.”  He turned and left the lab, leaving her with no doubt to his feelings on the subject, and the warning of dire consequences should she disobey.  


X*X*X*X*X

 

        Eli hurried over to Young as the colonel made his way into the control interface room.  “You wanted to see me?” Everett asked, raking a frustrated hand through his overlong hair.

        “Colonel,” the boy began, overwhelmed with excitement.  “We checked, we re-checked and we re-re-checked just to be sure – “

        Rush stared darkly at the pair, his mood foul from a combination of his irritation with Young and his argument with Belle.  She’d had enough of his silent stares and sour temperament and left the control room to seek out TJ.  Anything to be away from him for a few moments.  “The seed ship has sizeable energy reserves,” he said, talking over Eli.  “With the output of both capacitors in play, we have enough power to dial the gate and get us home.  In order for that to happen, however, I have to alter certain conduits to open up a transfer channel, but that’s not something I can do from here.”  
        Everett’s face remained stoic, but Rush could see the hope in the man’s eyes.  “Go!” the colonel ordered.

        Rush dropped his pencil onto the console, and left the room, not wanting to waste a moment should the colonel change his mind.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

        Belle cooed softly at Claire as she rocked the baby back and forth in the cradle of her arms.  Claire fussed, sucking eagerly on her fist as she fought sleep.  “She’s about ready for a nap, I think,” she said, smiling at TJ.  “You must’ve just fed her.”

        “I did,” TJ remarked as she re-buttoned the top few buttons of her blue shirt.  She took Claire from her godmother and nuzzled her softly before handing her off to Annie.  “Make sure you swaddle her tightly before you lay her down.  I don’t want her to be cold … and I will check in with you in an hour or so –“

        “TJ, I got this,” Annie grinned.  “I promise I’ll call if we need you.”

        Tamara watched as her daughter was whisked away, wishing she didn’t have to rely on the nanny so much.  “Hey, you ok?” Belle asked, leaning a hip against the medic’s desk.

        “Yeah, I just hate to see her go, y’know?”

        Belle smiled knowingly.  “Separation anxiety is normal, isn’t it?  And it’s got to be worse for you considering you have to raise her aboard Destiny.”

        TJ shrugged as she began to set out several instruments and supplies, readying the tray in preparation of her first patient.  “We’ll adjust to raising Claire just as we have everything else.  What choice do I have?  I just wish we’d find a viable planet soon … one safe enough for her to get some fresh air and sunshine.”

        Belle huffed a short laugh.  “I think we could all use some R&R.”

        “So what’s got you down, Belle?  You seem a bit anxious.”

        She shook her head.  She supposed it came from their long friendship that TJ knew her so well.  “Nicholas.”

        “Ah, should’ve known.  What did he do this time?”

        “Besides being an overbearing ass?” Belle asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

        “He can’t be any worse than Everett has been.  He’s not at all happy with Camille going behind his back to his superiors and negotiating to have some of the prisoners remain on Destiny.”  She sighed.  “I don’t like it any more than he does.”

        “There might be a few who are genuine in their desire to integrate with our crew, but then there are others I believe would happily kill us all in our beds.”

        TJ dropped down in the chair at her desk and stared at her friend.  “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

        Belle’s radio crackled as Rush’s voice came over the air.  “Belle, Young is sending me to the seed ship.  I need you back in the control room to help Eli.  Belle?”

        She pulled the walkie from her waistband and clicked the com button.  “Yeah, Rush, I’m here and I read you.  Be careful,” she added out of habit, but there was no warmth in her tone.

        “You’re still angry with me,” he said.  It wasn’t a question.  He wondered how long she’d hold onto her anger this time.  “Belle –“

        “I’m on my way back to control.  We’ll talk about it later.”

        “I’ll check in with you soon.  Rush out,” he said, severing the connection.

        Belle returned her radio to its place and smiled apologetically to her friend.  “Sorry, Tamara, I gotta go.  See you at dinner?”

        “Yeah,” TJ said, hoping Belle would be able to work out whatever had caused her latest riff with Rush.  “I’ll save you a seat.”

        The petite astrophysicist glanced at the curtained section of the infirmary where Riley was still under heavy sedation.  “TJ, let me know if he wakes up, ok?”

        “I will.  He’s getting better, he’s stable and he’ll be ready to see his friends once he starts his therapy.”

        The smile slipped from her face as she made her way to the door where Dunning led Simeon into the infirmary.  He leered at her, his mouth twisted into a sneer as his eyes swept her lasciviously from head to toe.  She smirked as Dunning gave the Lucian a little shove to get him moving.  She wasn’t worried about TJ, knowing the woman could take care of herself.  Besides, she needed to check in with Eli.

        “Have a seat,” TJ commanded as Simeon was led to an exam table, Dunning taking up a defensive position several feet behind him.  She gave a cursory glance to the cut near his temple as she reached for some antiseptic and a swab.  “If you’re not careful, that’s going to open back up again.”

        “I can’t help it.  I like to play rough.”  He looked up at her as she dabbed the cut with the swab.  “How ‘bout you?”  Without warning, he seized her right wrist.

        TJ quickly reversed his hold and bent his hand over onto his wrist, straining it to the point where his muscles and tendons felt as if they were going to rip away from the bone.  He grunted in pain as she threw up her other hand to hold Dunning back.  “It’s ok.  I got it,” she said calmly as the airman backed away.  Her cold gaze returned to the Lucian.  “Yeah, I do,” she told him in a soft tone, bending his hand back further and relishing his whimper of pain.  “Do you think you could handle me?”

        Looking up into her eyes, he tried to grin bravely, but she twisted her hand slightly and the bones in his wrist ground together.  Grimacing, he forced out one word through the pain.  “No.”

        “I didn’t think so.”  She let him go and stepped away, ready to resume the examination now that she’d effectively put him in his place.

        He lowered his hand, breathing heavily and trying not to cry.  “What is it about the women on this ship?  Are they all as brutal as you and the little brunette?”

        “Vanessa?”  She shrugged.  “All military personnel is –“

        “No, not the lieutenant.”  He’d met the no nonsense woman during his time in the holding area and knew she’d shoot him without a moment’s hesitation.  “I mean the civilian who just left.  What’s her story?”

        TJ laughed.  “You don’t want to trifle with her any more than me.  There isn’t anyone aboard this ship that wouldn’t come to her defense … that is, if she didn’t kill you first.”

        Simeon’s lip curled up over his teeth as his eyes strayed to the door where Belle had disappeared.  There was a story … one he was sure the medic wouldn’t share with him, and one he desperately wanted to know.  No scientist could have brought him down earlier as she had without some extensive training.  But why had she been trained in combat to begin with?  Who did she need to protect herself from?  Whatever could Young be playing at?

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

        The lieutenant grinned ear to ear, his rifle hanging loosely at his side.  Greer shook his head, giving a little roll of his eyes.  “Seriously, Dr. Rush, you’re going to want to see this,” Scott said, barely able to contain his excitement.

        Rush followed after them as they traversed the unfamiliar corridors.  “I warn you, lieutenant, I tend to find surprises particularly underwhelming.”

        Scott shook his head.  “Not _this_ one you won’t; trust me.”

        The lieutenant led the way through a door to a large bay and stood aside, gesturing Rush to enter the area ahead.  Nicholas cast him an exasperated look and walked out onto the gantry.  His brows twitched in surprise as he took in the long row of stargates suspended from the ceiling.  There must have been more than twenty gates there ready for distribution.

        “Pretty darned cool, huh?!” Scott said.

        Nicholas leaned his hands atop the railing and looked down at the gates, not at all excited.  “Yes, of course.  This is where the stargates were manufactured before being transported to the various planets.”  He turned back to the boys.  “Ok, is that it?”

        They gaped at him in disbelief before Greer said, “Yeah, that’s it.”

        “Well, now that we’re done with this little diversion, could you escort me to the control room?”

        Scott and Greer shared a look of exasperation before they chortled and turned to leave the room again, Rush following after them.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

        Dale checked the data streaming on the tablet Belle had given him and shook his head to clear it.  He was tired, hungry and really just wanted his shift to end.  Sure it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to investigate the seed ship, but try telling his overworked body that.  He flipped through the tabs open on the console, clutching a worn pencil in his teeth, a barely audible thunk sounding behind him. 

        “That didn’t take you long, but there’s some more that –“  He turned, expecting to find Brody, and froze in shock.  Several feet away stood the strangest creature he’d ever seen.  The humanoid being stood barely five foot tall.  It had leathery olive skin stretched tight over its sharp bone structure, completely hairless, and it’s startling blue eyes dominated its face.  Volker could hardly find comfort in the fact that it wasn’t the Nakai – having heard tales of them more than once from Chloe and Belle – as the creature wasn’t blue.  “Oh my god … I don’t … I don’t –“ he stammered, holding up his hands in surrender as he backed away from the creature.  “Please.”

        The creature, either too weak from malnutrition or terrified of the ginger haired human, keeled over, his knees giving out beneath him as he dropped to the floor unconscious.  Volker stared down at him, frowning as he lowered his hands.  “What the hell?”  He reached for the radio sitting on the console and clicked the com button.  “Lt Scott, this is Volker.  You might wanna c-come back to the control room”

        “You find something interesting?” Scott asked, glancing worriedly at Greer.

        Volker’s voice was a bit thready as it crackled over the link.  “Well, yeah, actually something interesting found _me._ ”

        Scott looked at the others, frowning, and picked up the pace.  “We’re on our way.”  


X*X*X*X*X

 

        “TJ,” Young’s voice sounded over her radio.

        She bid the airman goodbye as he led away her last patient of the day and moved to her desk to retrieve her walkie.  “Sir?”

        Everett’s lips curled up slightly at the corner, noticing how Tamara seemed to never forget protocol or procedure despite their relationship.  “Grab your med kit and meet me at the airlock.  You’re heading over to the seed ship.”

        “Is anyone hurt?” she asked, a worried frown knitting her brow.

        “Not exactly.”

        It didn’t take her long to grab her gear and head to the airlock, her pack slung securely on her back.  Dunning and Marsden were there waiting to escort her. 

        “According to Scott, the alien is alive, but unresponsive,” Young said, filling her in on the situation.

        “How did it even get on the ship?”

        “No idea,” the colonel said with a slight shake of his head.

        “Ok, I’ll do my best,” she said, smiling reassuringly at him.

        He reached out and grabbed her hand, his thumb smoothing over her knuckles.  “You sure you don’t want me to use the stones, bring someone else in?”

        “Everett,” she said gently.  “I am sufficiently recovering from having Claire, and I’m the only medic we’ve got.  Just let me do my job, ok?”  
        He nodded reluctantly, realizing he couldn’t hold her back just because she was the mother of his child.  “Alright.”

        Telford rounded the corner, interrupting them.  “I’m going with,” he announced.

        “The lieutenant already has an escort,” Young grumbled.  
        A boyish grin overtook David’s features.  “It’s hard to sit on the sidelines,” he said.  “Put me in, coach.”

        Everett thought it over for a few moments before giving in.  “Fine, ok.”  He radioed Eli and had him unlock the door, his gut twisting as he watched TJ follow her escort onto the seed ship.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

        “ _What_ is that?”

        Rush snorted as he pointed the tablet at the alien lying prone on the floor of the control center.  Belle’s voice filtered through the com plugged into his ear – more of Brody’s ingenuity – calming him greatly, but he still watched the little green man with trepidation.  He was more than worried this wasn’t the only one roaming the seed ship.  “It’s an alien, dear.  I would think that would be apparent to one of your brilliance.”

        “Knock it off, Nicholas,” she growled.  “Where did he come from?  How has he survived out here for so long?  Are there others?” There was a brief pause – probably for breath – before she started again.  “Is it even alive?  Why don’t you come back to Destiny?  It’s not safe –“

        “It’s not exactly threatening, unconscious as it is, and our officers have their weapons trained on it.  How is the power relay holding up under the influx?” he asked, consulting the console for a moment to check the data and power streams.  He was wishing he’d left the damn tablet on Destiny, despite the benefits to his work he received through its use.  However, his Belle insisted he carry it with him as she carried her own.

        “It’s fluctuating at sixty-eight percent right now.  You might need to –“

        Her voice trailed away as he dropped the tablet.  Lieutenant Johansen placed her hand on the alien’s chest and his large eyes snapped open.  Startled, TJ gasped and leaned back, losing her balance and falling onto her backside.  Rush retrieved the tablet and plugged the com back into his ear.

        “Nicholas!  Nicholas, what’s happening?  Point the tablet so I can see!” Belle screeched.  “Are you alright?”

        “I’m fine,” he assured her.  “It seems our friend is awake.”

        The military presence in the room aimed their hardware down at the creature as it slowly pushed itself up onto its hands and looked around at everyone.  He sat upright, muttering to itself in a guttural language and pulling its knees up to its chin to wrap his spindly arms around them.  Scott shrugged at Telford who then turned to glance around at Rush.  
        “Little help here, Rush?” the colonel asked, nodding at their new friend.  
        “Me?” Nicholas scowled at David.  
        “You're the only one with any experience at communicating with aliens.”  
        Rush shrugged.  “ _Different_  aliens. However, I think a good first step might be to lower your weapons.”

        Greer didn’t look happy … at all.  Telford looked confused, but gave the order for them to lower their weapons.  “Do we have anyone on board who might be able to understand the creature’s dialect?”

        Belle snickered in Rush’s ear.  “Is he kidding?”  When Rush didn’t answer, she continued to watch the little show.  The alien muttered something as Scott offered him food, and she shook her head, trying to clear it of the rambling thoughts trying to coalesce in her brain.

        “What’s that?” Eli asked, leaning over her shoulder for a better look at the screen on her tablet.  “Belle?  You ok?  You look kinda pale.”

        She brushed a hand over her sweaty brow, weakness flooding her veins which she tried to fight off.  What was wrong with her?  “I … I’m fine, Eli.”

        “You’re not.  When TJ gets back, you might want to have her check you out,” he insisted.

        “What’s going on over there?” Rush’s voice carried over the small speaker on her tablet.  “Belle, what is Eli on about?”

        Rush turned his tablet where it was no longer facing the alien, but positioned where she could see the worry clouding his face.  Belle crossed her arms across her chest in a defensive gesture and cast a narrow-eyed glare at Eli.  “It’s nothing, Nicholas.  Eli is just overreacting.”

        “Belle –“

        “Transfer rate is slowing.  What’s going on over there?” she asked, effectively changing the subject and shifting the focus off of her.

        “Ah … I’m working on it.  The team is searching now to see if the creature does indeed have friends.  Maybe now I can clear up this problem.”  He set the tablet down and set to work on the control panel.  “Have Eli isolate the power and direct it towards the gate.”  
        “It’s working!” Eli whooped, excited at the prospect of sending enough power to the gate to allow them the opportunity to go home.

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

        Belle turned on the shipboard coms for Camille to allow the woman to broadcast her announcement, otherwise ignoring her.  She had mixed feelings about Destiny’s newest development.  She didn’t want to go home.  Destiny was her home now and she desperately wanted to stay.  “Alright, Camille, you can begin when you’re ready.”

        The IOA representative nodded, her voice clear and precise.  “Very shortly we will be making an attempt to dial Earth.  If a successful connection is made, we _will_ need to move quickly.  All crew members are to proceed to the gate room immediately.”  She depressed the button that would sever the connection and turned fully to Belle who was waiting for her to finish and leave the control room.  “Do you really think we’ll have enough power to dial home?”

        Belle lifted her gaze, her face set in stone.  “I don’t know.  There are several variables to consider, but things are looking quite favorable at the moment. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

        “Come again,” Everett growled into his radio as he stalked through the corridors.

        “Greer has discovered several more pods, all empty, suggesting there are more of these things on board,” Telford repeated.  “There are about a dozen more.  Rush figures they’re a research team who were dropped off to do a long-term study of the ship.”

        Young stepped out of the way as Palmer and Boone hurried towards the gate room, bags in hand.  “Well, let’s get our people out of there before their ride come back to pick them up.”

        David nodded, though Young couldn’t see it.  “Making our way to the control room.”

        “I want Rush and the science team back on Destiny now.  Do you understand?”

        “I can’t leave just yet, colonel,” Rush said impatiently as he joined the conversation.

        Young sighed, shaking his head.  “What is it now, Rush?”

        “I should stay here in case there’s any interruption to the power transfer.  We may only have one shot at this.”

        “Well, what’s the situation with the alien?” the colonel asked.

        Nicholas shifted his attention from the screen and looked over at the creature which was still sitting calmly on the floor with its knees drawn up to his chest.  “Docile.  Not a threat.”

        “You can’t know that for sure.”

        “Colonel, there’s really no point in arguing about this,” Rush sneered.  “I have to stay here to make sure this works.” Gods, he was so tired of having that man interfere in his work.

        “Alright, fine. I’ll send reinforcements.”

        “I would advise against that.”

        “I’m sending them anyway.”

        Nicholas gnashed his teeth together at the futility of arguing with the man.  “Ok, I’ll head back once a stable wormhole has been established.”  


X*X*X*X*X

  
        Eli beamed at Belle as he checked the readouts on the console.  “Power buffers are at optimum.  We’re good to go.”  
        Belle set her tablet aside and lifted her radio to her mouth.  “Colonel, you may commence dialing sequence.”

        “Copy that, Dr. French,” he returned.

        She monitored the Kino she’d sent to the gate room, watching as the gate began to spin.  The crew stood in two loose lines on either side of the ramp, awaiting the command as soon as the wormhole was established.  Her eyes flickered briefly to the Lucian prisoners as they were brought into the room under guard, her eyes narrowing.

        “It’s working,” Eli chirped happily as he watched the gate lock on the first chevron on the screen.  “We’re going home.”

        “Lisa, go.  Grab your stuff and head to the gate room,” Belle said, briefly looking up at the woman.  “Eli and I can manage.”

        The petite scientist shook her head.  “No, I’ll stay … just in case.”

        The boy reached for his radio.  “Rush, the gate’s dialing.”

        “Let me know when you’ve secured the connection,” the scientist answered.  
        “Damn!” Belle cursed, staring at the Kino footage.  “The gate has gone dark.  We’ve lost power.”  
        Eli’s hands fluttered over his console.  “The power transfer has been interrupted.  Hang on.”  
        Belle’s fingers flew over the tablet, bringing up video from the one Rush had with him.  “Nicholas, what’s going on?”

        “I’m not sure, Belle, but it appears that tapping this ship’s energy reserves seems more problematical than we’d originally thought.”  
        Before she could reply, there was a sharp buzzing noise and a thud.  “Nicholas, what was that?”

        “We’ve got a problem.  The energy transfer has been reversed,” Eli said through his walkie.  “Dr. Rush, did you hear that?  The seed ship has begun drawing power _away_ from Destiny.  Dr. Rush!”  
        Belle watched in horror as the view from his tablet skewed, the device falling from the console and thudding against the floor.  When it came to rest, Belle could see a pair of legs and a familiar pair of boots from his prone position.  “Nicholas!”  
        Eli radioed their commander.  “Colonel Young, we just lost contact with Rush.”

        Belle stood frozen, unsure what to do.  Nicholas was in trouble, and gods only knew what those aliens were capable of doing to him.  She grabbed her radio, tucking it into the back pocket of her jeans and swiped up her tablet where it lay on the console.  “I’ll monitor things from this.  Disengage the airlock when I get there.”

        “Belle, you can’t just go after him.  You’re unarmed and there are aliens on board that ship!  _ALIENS_!” he emphasized.

        “I can’t just leave him there!”

        Eli shushed her as the colonel’s voice came over the com, ordering Telford to the control room to check on Rush.  “Find out why Rush isn’t responding and report back.”  
        “Already on our way.  TJ, Marsden and the science team are headed back to Destiny with the alien,” Telford returned.

        “Have you found any more?”

        “Not yet.”  
        Belle forced herself to calm, hopeful that Telford wouldn’t allow his personal feelings towards Nicholas to cloud his judgment.  Rush would want her to remain in the control room and work the problem.  It didn’t make her feel any better leaving him there, however.

        Young barreled into the room, snapping and snarling.  “Talk to me, Eli!”

        “The seed ship is still drawing power away from Destiny.  When the reserves are gone, there’s no getting them back.  Pretty soon we won’t even be able to make an FTL jump,” Eli groaned, raking a hand through his hair in frustration.  
        The colonel’s gaze swung to Belle.  “So, we can’t stop it?”

        “We’re trying, but nothing is working,” she said, leveling him with a look.  “We need to disconnect from the seed ship and unfortunately, we have no idea how to do that.”  She was sure if she went up to the bridge, she could figure it out, but she couldn’t leave the control room without making both Eli and Everett suspicious.

        “Yeah, well we gotta learn … _fast.!_ ”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

        David edged his way into the control room, glaring down the muzzle of his rifle as he did a sweep, searching for any signs of danger.  Greer and Scott flanked him, spreading out and away from him to secure the room.  Marsden and TJ had already returned to Destiny with Volker and Brody, somehow losing the alien captive in the process.  There was no room for any more screw-ups.  
        Once the room was secure, he nodded to Greer.  “Check them,” he said quietly so as to not alert anyone – _anything_ – which might be listening.  
        Greer pressed two fingers to the pulse point beneath Rush’s jaw and looked up at David.  “He’s still breathing.”  
        Telford lifted his radio from his belt and clicked the coms.  “Everett, we found Rush and Dunning.  They’re unconscious.”

        Belle sagged against the console in relief, thanking every deity she’d ever heard of for Rush’s well-being.  At least now she’d be able to focus on their myriad problems now. 

        “It doesn’t look like we’re going to be able to stop the power transfer,” Young said into his walkie.  “So, our only option is to sever the link between the two ships.  We need you back here in order to disconnect.”

        “Negative,” David responded.  Scott, still tending to Dunning, looked up at him in surprise.  “This is our one shot at getting home.  There’s got to be a way to reverse the transfer.”  
        Everett shook his head even though the man couldn’t see it.  “Eli’s tried, Belle’s tried, and they’re still coming up short.  Listen to me, David.  I want nothing more than to get everyone back home, but I’m not willing to risk anyone’s life to do it.  Do you really think I want to raise Claire on this ship?!”

        “Put Eli on,” he insisted stubbornly.  He knew better than to get into a technical battle of wits with Dr. French.  She was too much like Rush.  
        Unhappily, Young handed the radio over to Eli.  Frowning, Eli took it with a shaking hand and activated it.  “Colonel?”  
        “Is there a way to reverse the transfer from my end?” David barked as he stepped over to the console.

        Eli hesitated for a long moment.  “Theoretically, yeah, yeah, it’s possible.  Uh, you need to find anything that resembles a schematic … or an active display, possibly indicative of the power transfer.”  
        Telford lifted his gaze to Scott.  “Lieutenant, Sergeant, get those two back to safety,” he ordered, gesturing to the two unconscious men on the floor of the control room.

        Scott rose to his feet and faced off with him over the console.  “Sir, those aliens are probably responsible for what's happening. If they come back here, you will – “

        “Go!  That’s an order, Lieutenant.”

        Greer shook his head as Scott clenched his jaw and moved back to Dunning, grasping the fallen man under his arms to drag him back to the airlock.  If Telford wanted to be stupid and stay behind, Scott didn’t have the rank to argue.  
        The console beeped and David activated the radio once more.  “Alright, Eli, I got it.”  
        “OK, now I'm gonna walk you through this.”  
        “Forget walking. Let's sprint. I've got a basic knowledge of Ancient systems,” he said, a vague prickling of unease along the back of his neck urging him to hurry.  
        Eli squinted his dark eyes to the point where they almost closed as he tried to visualize what he needed to tell Telford as Young paced restlessly about the room.  “Tell him to look for the ship’s distribution network, Eli,” Belle said with relative calm as she continued to divide her attention between her console and tablet.

        “Right!  Sorry, I’m nervous … pressure and all,” he said by way of an excuse before relaying that message to the colonel on the seed ship.  
        “How're we doing for time?” Everett asked for what must be the third time in the last quarter hour.

        Belle entered the commands to bring up the holoscreen without looking up at him.  The ship’s power levels were displayed.  “Once we hit red, we’re at the point of no return.  We have less than fifteen minutes, so you better pray David can find what we need.”

 

X*X*X*X*X

 

        Belle glanced up at Young, sighing deeply.  “Locks on the hatch just engaged.  Everyone’s back on board … except Colonel Telford.”

        Speak of the devil and he shall appear, she thought as David’s voice filtered through the radio.  “Eli, I’m done; what’s next?”  
        “Now you need to open a secondary conduit,” Eli rushed to walk him through the next step, frantically checking his watch.  
        “Less than six minutes, Eli,” Belle warned.

        Young raked a frustrated hand through his hair.  “Are we any closer to finding a way to disconnect from the seed ship?”

        Belle bit her tongue … hard … to stop herself from betraying Nicholas’ secret.  “We’re limited with what we can do from here, Colonel.”

        Lisa shook her head from where she stood at her own console.  “We need Dr. Rush.”  
        Young snatched the radio away from Eli and called for his second in command.  “Lieutenant Scott, come in.  We need Rush in the control room, now!”

        Scott, still standing with his men next to the airlock, looked around to find Nicholas nowhere in sight.  “He’s gone, sir!” he yelled into the walkie. 

        “Gone where?!”

        “I don’t know!”

        Everett growled, the muscle working in his jaw as he gnashed his teeth.  “Find him!”   
        Eli paced before his console, his chest rising and falling rapidly with the beginnings of a panic attack.  “Look, there’s no way we’re going to figure out how to disconnect in time.  It’s all up to Colonel Telford.”

        “How reassuring,” Belle mumbled under her breath.  “Three minutes.”  If anything was going to save them, her faith didn’t rest in Telford.  A few short keystrokes and she brought up the data she needed on her tablet.  It didn’t matter how much of a genius Eli was or how Young wanted him to spy on Rush, he could track bupkiss when it came to her tablet and the protocols she’d set in place concerning the bridge.

        “Almost there. OK, next?”  
        “Um,” Eli stalled for a second, taking up the coms again.  “Now all you have to do is override the power relay and just re-route it back into the channel you've just created.”  
        “Three minutes,” Park said again from her console, her voice high with panic.

        “Do you _have_ to do that, Lisa?” Belle asked, shooting her a dark look.  She nearly dropped her tablet as Destiny shuddered and began to vibrate, the lights flickering.  
        David’s voice squeaked over the radio.  “What was that?!”

        Eli shrugged as Young swung about to look at him.  “Um …”

        Belle leaned her hands against the console and gave him a level stare.  “We just disconnected from the seed ship,” she said, confirming his worst fears.

        “Wait a minute … I thought you said – “

        “ _I_  didn't,” the boy assured him.

        “Then HOW?!” Everett boomed.  He shook his head in disgust at their blank stares and state of confusion.  Gods! he hated it when he didn’t have answers.  He turned his back on them and walked over to one of the benches lining the room, sitting down heavily.  He leaned forward and braced his forearms on his knees for a long moment before activating his radio. 

        “David, we just disconnected from the seed ship and we’re about to jump into FTL,” he said dejectedly.  “I’m so sorry.”  
        On the seed ship, a smile crossed Telford’s face, one of disbelief and abject pain.  He activated the radio, trying to find words to tell his friend goodbye.  “Can’t blame me for trying, right?”

        Belle ushered the others out of the room, finding it only right to give the two colonels a moment of privacy.

        “Yeah.  Yeah,” Everett said, feeling as though his throat were closing off.  They were running out of time, mere seconds left on the clock as Destiny began to power up, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.  “David –“

        “Take care of those people,” Telford said, trying to interject a bit of levity into his voice.  “And, Everett, take care of yourself and your little family.”

        Young’s eyes burned with tears as Destiny’s engines whined and jumped into FTL.  “Goodbye, David.”

        Belle hovered in the doorway for a moment, giving him time to grieve before he had to step back into his role of commander.  She moved to sit at his side and gently touched his shoulder.  “Everett, I’m so sorry about David.  I know he was your friend.”

        “Yeah … yeah he was.”

        “Is there anything I can do?” she asked, feeling badly for him as he kept his head lowered.  “I can have Matt inform the crew of what’s happened, and perhaps fetch TJ?”

        He nodded and brought his hands up to wipe away his tears.  “Thanks, Belle.  I’d appreciate that.”

        She left him to his thoughts, his pain, and set to her new task.  Loss was never easy, and this time would be no different.

 

X*X*X*X*X

  
        Rush tensed, his fingers curling against the arm rests of the command chair where he sat on the bridge.  The consoles and display panels blinked silently in greeting as his Belle stepped into the room and went through the protocols to lock them in, sealing the room against those who would take his discovery away from them.  He didn’t speak, didn’t blink, his head lowered as she moved down the steps and rounded the dais to stand before him.  Guilt weighed heavily upon him.  He acknowledged it, but at the same time, he didn’t want to see it mirrored in her eyes.  From anyone else, he could deal with it.  But not from her.

        She slowly mounted the few steps, but held out her hand to forestall him as he reached for her.  “Nicholas –“

        “I had no choice,” he mumbled in his own defense.

        Belle crossed her arms over her chest as he sat back and met her gaze with a level one of his own.  She knew that look, knew him, and she could tell he was determined his decision had been the right one.  “Tell me, Nicholas.  Did you do it in order to save the crew? Or your dream?  Which was it?”  
        He closed his eyes and laid his head against the back of the chair, wearier than he’d been in a long time.  “It wasn’t supposed to happen this way, Belle.”

        She shook her head and relaxed her stance, moving closer and allowing him now to pull her onto his lap.  “No, I don’t suppose it was.  You left Telford to die, Nicholas.”

        “It couldn’t be helped.  If he had come back to Destiny with the rest of us, he’d still be alive.”

        “Stop making excuses.”

        “Excuse or not, it still holds true,” he hissed, averting his gaze.  He couldn’t admit she might be right.  Then he would have to live with the guilt, and he couldn’t let his feelings get in the way of their mission.

        She wound her arms about his shoulders and sighed as he buried his face in the crook of her neck.  Her hips shifted restlessly as his grip on her waist tightened painfully, but she didn’t try to escape his embrace.  “This needs to stop, Nicholas.  If you had shared the knowledge of the bridge with Everett, with Eli and our team, we could have prevented this.  We wouldn’t have lost a member of our crew – and despite your feelings towards David, he was in fact a member of our crew – and those who wanted to go home would have had the chance.  We would have had the capabilities to monitor the power stream and been able to finally dial Earth.”

        He lifted his gaze to hers, his eyes shadowed with incredulity.  “Do you really think I don’t want them to be able to go home?  Do you believe for one moment I want Claire to have to grow up on this ship?”

        “Of course not, no,” she said, wrapping her fingers in the hair at his nape and giving it a gentle tug, knowing the calming effect it would have on him.  “But I do know how jealously you guard your secrets.  When is it going to be enough, Nicholas?  When are you going to learn to trust?”

        “I trust _you_.”

        “I know,” she whispered, pressing her lips to his brow.  “One day, though, it’s not going to be good enough.  You aren’t going to be able to hide this for much longer and then you’re going to have to put your trust in the colonel.”

        “I don’t know if I can,” he sighed, relaxing into her embrace.  He’d been running on stress and fear for forty hours, and his body yielded to hers.  She was his strength, his comfort, his refuge.  “Young doesn’t believe in the mission.  He’ll push me out, and –“

        “And it will be made worse the longer you keep this from him.”

        Belle didn’t bother to elaborate.  He was beyond reason, firm in his belief the colonel wouldn’t listen.  His features hardened as he stared straight ahead out of the window at the bright blue and pink FTL lights.  “Come to bed with me.  There’s nothing more you can do tonight.”

        “I –“

        “No,” she murmured softly, raking her nails through the scruff along his neck.  She smiled as he shivered.  “Come to bed.  I’m sure it would be better for you to be in our quarters should Everett come looking for you to find out where you’ve been hiding.”

        Rush dropped his gaze, capitulating to her request with a resigned nod.  Tomorrow … tomorrow they would begin again.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Guh!!! I’m so sorry it’s been so long since I’ve updated. I’ve been primarily focused on “A Game of Chance” even though I’ve been working on this one too. I really hated this episode and it was hard to bring it in a new direction. I just hope you enjoyed it. Thanks so much for reading.


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